Shadows of my Twisted Destiny
by Queen-of-Ice101
Summary: When the battle ended and Mordred was defeated Mel should have been able to go back to Thais and start a new life. But the fates had taken interest in her and they weren't quite done with her yet. So as Gyendal fell through the portal to the Demon Realm a well timed push sent her tumbling after him. Now trapped in hell with none other then Gyendal Mel's new life is just begining.
1. Prologue

The Oracle stood before her mirror watching the unconscious Darkthrop girl lying there as the battle raged around her. They planned to end this and take her home to Thais where she was supposed to start a new life, maybe even marry Edward or one of the young men from the line of Lars.

But that was not her destiny.

The scarlet thread of fate didn't tie Mel to any of her companions. Instead it tied her to a tall black haired man who currently sat in the prisons below.

Oracle sighed and brushed her fingers along the frame of the mirror gently, her wrinkled face falling as she gazed at the girl with sad eyes.

"You've already suffered so much, why does your life have to be like this? I wish..."

"Oracle?"

The oracle turned to see one of the most advanced and oldest priestesses in her order standing at the door.

"Yes my dear?"

"Is something the matter? You've been watching in the mirror for over a day now and the other priestesses and I are getting worried. Is something bad happening on Aia?"

The oracle was silent for a moment before returning her gaze to the raging battle.

"No, not now. The prophecy is being fulfilled but it is also being ended through my chosen heroes. But the girl, her bonds choices to follow a darker path has twisted her fate alongside his and now...now I cannot do anything to help her. She is out if my hands."

The oracle bowed her head, a expression of sadness and pain washing over her face.

"There is truly nothing you can do?" She whispered, seeing the distress in the Oracle's features.

"There is nothing. Even I cannot mess with the fates tapestry. Now all I can do is pray that my shadow counterpart shows enough interest in Mel and Gyendal that she will guide them and they will be protected."

"Protected from what?"

The oracle gazed at the mirror wordlessly for a long moment before turning to the priestess.

"Protected from the Shadows of her Twisted Destiny."


	2. Falling Into Hell

Hello wonderful readers!

This would be my first ever Aveyond fanfic so I'm really excited to hear feedback about it. This story idea came to me really randomly when I was looking at Aveyond fan art on DeviantArt.

At first I had dismissed the idea, planning on ignoring it and never publishing it but one night I couldn't sleep and I was lying there bored out of my brains when this story idea popped into my head. Because I was really bored I began to explore it and write it mentally in my head so now I'm invested in the storyline and I have to write and publish it.

As you might have already guessed this is going to be a GyendalxMel story, because there isn't near enough crack ship stories out there for this dark couple:p

This story is going to be a longer one since I want to take the time to establish the relationship between them in a realistic way and going from enemies to close friends and a eventual couple (probably) doesn't exactly happen overnight:p

I hope you enjoy!

(On a completely unrelated side note I discovered that there are no Aveyond forums on this site (le gasp!) for chatting about the awesomest RPG game ever;) So I decided to create my own dedicated to all things Aveyond if you want to check it out)

Disclaimer:

I don't own Aveyond.

* * *

 **Falling into Hell**

* * *

Mel watched Te'ijel's arrow hit Gyendal's arm and as he was propelled back towards the portal a sense of relationship relief washed over her. Finally the enemy that had plagued her for several years now would be gone.

As his foot made contact with the portal she felt a powerful tug in her chest and she stumbled forward unconsciously while her hands flew to clutch her robe just over her heart.

"What-"

Suddenly there was a high pitched feminine shriek from behind her and something slammed into her back sending her flying forward right towards the wildly flashing portal.

Mel let out a terrified cry and twisted in the air, grasping desperately for the hands that reached out to her.

But it was to late.

As Mel was sucked into the portal to the Demon Realm the last things she saw were the terrified faces of her friends and a maniacally laughing Lydia.

Then she began to scream as the portal opened on the other side and she began to free fall through the air towards the lava below.

* * *

Mel screamed again as she twisted in the air, panicking. How could the portal just dump her in the middle of a lake of lava?! Last time she had at least landed on the ground.

Out of nowhere a arm grabbed her around the middle, pulling her backwards against another figure and a blast of dark energy sent them both tumbling through the air until they hit the ground.

The figure behind Mel landed on the ground and Mel landed hard on top of her saviour. There was a whoosh has both of them had the air knocked out of them.

Without looking Mel rolled off the person below her as she gasped like a fish out of water.

"Ow..." She muttered once she could breath.

Next to her there was a pained groan and Mel looked over to see Gyendal lying on the ground with his eyes shut tight as he grimaced in pain and clutched his shoulder. She could see a broken off shaft of a arrow sticking up between his fingers and his hands were covered in red. He was extremely pale and his face glistened with sweat that she knew was the result of Te'ijelm's cursed arrows.

Looking around frantically for people she knew she wouldn't see Mel tried to figure out what to do. Usually when she saw Gyendal he was trying to kidnap her or use her powers to activate the orbs so her automatic reaction was to kill him.

But he had saved her life when he didn't have to and they were both trapped in the middle of the Demon Realm.

So Mel reached out a hand and touched his shoulder, causing him to flinch under her hand and open his eyes to glare at her.

"What?!" He spat.

"Let me see your shoulder."

He shifted slightly, his hand still clutching his wounded shoulder as he sneered at her.

"What, so that you can inflict more pain on me in revenge for me using you to fulfill the prophecy? Not likely!"

Mel pulled a cloth wrapped bundle out of her burnt robe and unwrapped it to reveal several healing potions and balms.

"Te'ijel's arrows are cursed. If they aren't fired in a way that will take the life of the victim right away it will bring a slow and extremely painful death. I need to take care of that shoulder or it's going to kill you."

Gyendal was silent for a moment before slowly unclenching his hands from his shoulder and moving it so that Mel could see the wound. When she saw how deep the arrow was imbedded she instantly reached for her dagger.

"I need to get that out now. I'm going to have to cut away the cloth around the wound." She told him as she grabbed a thin metal dagger from where it hung on her corded belt.

Gyendal nodded and she cut away the fabric around the wound before tossing her dagger to the side and gripping the shaft of the arrow that was slick with blood.

"This is going to hurt." She warned as she readied herself to pull.

"Just get it over with!" He snarled.

She nodded and gave a yank, pulling it free and wincing at what came with the barbed arrow. Gyendal grunted and gave a jerk of pain. She threw the arrow off to the side and used her basic knowledge of storm magic to summon a tiny bit of rain to wet a piece of her robe that she had ripped off.

She quickly cleaned the wound before placing her hands over the wound and closing her eyes before murmuring a soft magical incantation under her breath.

"What are you doing?"

Mel glanced down at Gyendal who still looked pained and clammy but had a brighter spark in his eyes.

"I know basic healing magic. Not much but enough to remove the effects of Te'ijel's arrow from you since I know what to target."

Mel turned her attention back to the wound that was still bleeding although not as heavy. Grabbing a healing balm from the unwrapped bundle beside her she quickly ripped more strips of cloth off her robe, washing them with magic rain and infusing them with healing magic before spreading balm on them and wrapping Gyendals's shoulder.

Once she was done Mel summoned more rain to wash off her hands the best she could. She then wiped her hands on her robe before packing up her medicinal potions and balms and tucking the bundle back into her robe that was starting to look rather worse for wear.

"So what now?" She finally asked.

Gyendal sat up with a grimace and brushed his fingers over the bandage before turning to look at Mel.

"Well first I'd love to hear how you ended up free falling through the Demon Realm. Last time I checked your friends held no secret desire to send you to most people's worst nightmare."

Mel gritted her teeth, unaware of the fact that her anger was causing her body to shimmer with magic.

"Lydia pushed me in. Somehow she was able to escape the prison cell and get up to where we were all gathered."

Gyendal raised a brow.

"Green hair pushed you in? My my, what a stupid girl she is. If my sister doesn't kill her on the spot for that little move they most certainly will have a hard time holding your little darkling back."

Mel snorted.

"Who cares. The point is now I'm stuck here."

Then her brows furrowed as she looked down at her lap.

"And my whole body has been feeling strange and tingly since I fell through the portal."

"You mean that's not normal?!"

Mel's head shot up to see that Gyendal was looking at her in alarm.

"What do you mean? Of course it's not normal! Why, have you been walking around constantly tingling for the past year and a bit since you became human?"

Gyendal glared at her.

"Don't be a fool! Of course not! I meant that I thought that the tingling was caused by the Demon Realm and that it wasn't anything unusual."

Mel shook her head.

"No. Last time I came I didn't feel tingling and Galahad never mentioned any tingling."

"I see."

They sat in silence for a moment trying to figure out what to do next when there was a roar from their left. Both heads whipped to the left just in time for a lower, louder roar to sound from the same direction.

"Oh crap." Mell muttered.

Gyendal pushed himself to his feet and she could feel him begin to pull at his magic.

Mel stood as well and looked down at the bracelet she had aquired since her last "visit" to this realm. With a slight smile she touched the glasslike gem on the top of e bracelet and gently channeled a small amount of magic through it.

The bracelet shuddered before popping free and floating off her wrist only to flash and turn into the orb staff. Mel caught the staff before it could fall before preparing for the Wyvers she heard coming.

"Nice staff." Gyendal commented from just behind her.

Mel grinned and spoke without turning to look at him.

"You think that's awesome? Watch what it can do."

Mel readied herself as the first Wyvern rounded the corner. The moment it was in range she channeled her power through the staff and fired, grinning savagely as the Wyvern was destroyed by a blast of dark fire.

Then a roar filled the air and Mel readied herself as a massive Wyvern at least twice the size of the last one appeared over the crest of the rocks.

"Great goddess that's huge!" Mel gasped.

She readied to fire another blast of magic when a ball of raw black energy flew past her from behind and slammed into the Wyvern with a mighty boom. Mel gaped at the black ash spot that had once been the Wyvern before whirling to face Gyendal who was standing examining the Staff of Destiny in his hand.

"My, this has some kick doesn't it. Impressive."

"T-the staff of Destiny!"

He glanced up at her.

"Is that what this is called? Good name for it."

Mel sputtered for a moment.

"You have to get rid of that thing! It's got a demon inside that takes over the welder!"

Gyendal laughed.

"I'm more then strong enough to control the demon in the staff of Destiny lamb. Don't worry your pretty little head about that."

Mel growled at the nickname that Te'ijel and Gyendal felt the need to use on her before turning back to the matter at hand.

"You don't understand. The staff is to powerful and evil. It's probably already controlling your thoughts..."

Gyendal dismissed her words with a simple wave of his hand as he held the staff in his other and examined it closely.

Mel clenched her fists in frustration. That staff was dangerous! Mel did not want a already powerful Mage walking around under the control of a evil demon! She was about to look away and check her own weapon when something caught her eye.

He was holding the staff in his injured arm.

Instantly a plan to get the staff away from Gyendal began to form in her mind. A stupid, dangerous plan that would most likely get her killed by a enraged ex vampire. But if it worked...

Taking advantage of Gyendal's distraction Mel lunged for him and latched onto the staff. Gyendal tightened his grip before looking up incredulously as Mel attempted to rip the staff out of his grasp.

"What are you- let GO you fool!"

"NO!"

The two of them grappled over the staff and just when Gyendal was about to win Mel slammed her own staff down on his injured shoulder causing him to let out a shout of pain and loosen his grip on the Staff of Destiny.

The moment his grip slackened Mel gave a mighty heave and yanked the demon staff free, throwing up all the mental blocks she could to keep the demon at bay.

Mel somehow flipped through the air, landing with both staffs held tight to her body. Gyendal recovered quickly and snarled as he lunged for the staff. She managed to block him with a kick as she desperately figured out what to do now at she had the staff.

The best thing to do would be to destroy it but...wait.

Mel's head twisted as she looked over at the lava to their right before flipping back towards Gyendal who was back on his feet. Knowing that her time had run ot she faked to the left before leaping to the right and hurling the staff of Destiny out over the lava as far as it would go, landing on the ground with a soft thump as the staff fell into the lava and sank beneath the surface.

She breathed a sigh of relief only to freeze when Gyendal let out a roar of fury.

Instantly she scrambled to her feet and attempted to flee but she was extremely slow compared to the powerful fighter and Mage as he grabbed her and hurled her up against the stone wall.

She let out a gasp as her body made contact with the stone and as her body peeled itself off the wall a hand grabbed her by the throat and pinned her there.

"You are a fool with a death wish."

Mel gasped desperately for air and clawed at the hand that cut off precious oxygen.

"Possess...you...kill...you..."

Gyendal eyed her coldly for a moment before releasing his grip on her neck and stepping away as Mel collapsed to the ground gasping and coughing and she clutched her neck.

"I'd kill you but you might be necessary to get us out of here."

Mel nodded, chest heaving as she attempted to recover her lost oxygen. Once she could breath again she stood to her feet and glanced over at Gyendal who was absently rubbing his shoulder.

She felt irrational guilt for using his wound against her although she probably saved his life by taking that evil staff from him. She walked over to him and hesitantly placed her hand on his shoulder over his wound, healing the damage she had done before removing her hand.

Gyendal stared at her in surprise.

"Because we're gonna need both of us in good shape down here." She muttered.

Gyendal raised one brow before smirking slightly. Then he turned serious.

"We need to find out if there's a way out of here and we need to make sure that the tingling isn't a bad thing. Is there someone down here we can go to?"

Mel sighed as she looked out over the Demon plains.

"Yeah. We need to go see the Shadow Oracle."

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	3. Shadow Aveyond

Hello wonderful readers!

When this story idea came to me I though I would finally escape my habit of having two or more multi chapter story ideas on the go all at once but no such luck. I now also have a Aveyond AUish rewrite of the Orbs of Magic saga on the go. Siiiiggghhh, such a pain:( The AU rewrite is called Heirs of Darkness, I've already published the prologue if any of you would be interested I'm checking it out:)

I also published a Aveyond one-shot that's my take on how Mel reacted to finding out that Spook was actually Gyendal(because in my gameplay I gave Spook all the attraction points) and how it would have effected her after TLO quest was over. It's called Aftermath if any of you are interested.

I now present to you chapter two! This was a interesting chapter to write and I hope you all enjoy it:)

Disclaimer: I don't own Aveyond.

* * *

 **Shadow Aveyond**

* * *

As Mel and Gyendal made their way along the paths towards Shadow Aveyond she thought about everyone she had left behind on Aia.

"Now that Lydia isn't sitting on the throne Edward will be able to take back his kingdom. I wish I could see the coronation." Mel commented wistfully.

"Missing your boyfriend already?"

Mel whipped her head to glare at Gyendal.

"Why does everyone always say that?! I don't love him like that and he doesn't like me like that either! The only reason he proposed is because I was the only girl he knew really well and he had to marry someone or his parents would choose his bride!"

Gyendal raised a brow at her reaction before laughing.

"Seems I've hit a sore spot."

Mel glared at him before huffing and turning away. They walked a few more feet until reaching a cave opening.

"Shadow Aveyond is in here."

Gyendal nodded and they stepped into the cave, walking the few feet before pushing aside the lichen curtain and stepping into Aveyond.

Mel smirked as Gyendal's eyes widened a the sight of the peaceful oasis and he took a half step back.

"Pretty strange right?"

He nodded.

"It looks exactly like the real Aveyond..."

Mel looked up in surprise.

"You've been to the real Aveyond?"

He gave a curt nod.

"Once. A very long time ago."

Curiously filled Mel and she wanted to ask but the look on his face told her that the story wasn't a nice one and she decided against it.

"Well come on then, we need to go talk to the Shadow Oracle. She's up at the temple.

He nodded and they made their way through the quiet streets up to the temple. Mel pushed the heavy oak door open and she hesitantly stepped into the temple where soft bells chimed and a gentle breeze that carried a sweet scent could be felt blowing through. Gyendal came up behind her and looked over her shoulder.

"Oracle? Are you here?"

Moments later movement could be heard from the library and a greying head poked out.

"Mel? Child what are you doing here?!"

The Shadow Oracle shuffled out to them.

"I was pushed in."

Mel paused for a moment before speaking again.

"After Mordred Darkthrop was killed for good this time."

The Shadow Oracle blinked and Mel sighed.

"I know what you are Shadow Oracle."

The elderly woman appeared taken aback before a dark smile flickered to life and her eyes turned completely black.

"You do? Wonderful, I can drop that pointless disguise then."

Mel's eyes widened and she took a unconscious step back into Gyendal at the cold and evil expression on the old woman's face.

"Don't like this version so much do you? Oh well. Now, since you know the truth I believe it's story time. I want to know the full story of how you came to be part of this little one, starting from the moment you got involved in this. Your ex vampire friend can tell his side so that I have the whole picture of how this prophecy thing happened."

Mel hesitated as Shadow Oracle walked over to the wing with all the benches.

"Come on lamb, she isn't going to wait all day." Gyendal sighed from behind her as he gave a gentle push to get her moving.

Mel unwillingly started forward, following the Shadow Oracle and taking a seat. As Gyendal took his own seat and began to explain how he had found Mel in his quest to locate the orbs Mel felt uneasy. Something was going to change in a big way and Mel wasn't so sure she was looking forward to that change.

* * *

"...then Lydia shoved me into the portal. That's the story." Mel finished.

Cups and empty plates sat next to Mel and Gyendal on the benches from their small break during the story that had taken several hours to fully tell.

"I see. That's quite the tale."

Mel sat impatiently as the Shadow Oracle pondered the story.

"So I assume you wish to return back to Aia."

Both Gyendal and Mel nodded and the Shadow Oracle steepled her fingers.

"Luckily that isn't going to be difficult. You just need the Staff of Destiny. It will take Gyendal channeling his magic through you Mel to open the portal but it can be done."

Gyendal and Mel exchanged looks, Gyendal's accusing and Mel's pleading. They would have to tell the old woman that they didn't have the staff but she was hoping that Gyendal would keep his mouth shut about why.

Mel did not want to have a front row seat to the Shadow Oracle going nuclear if she found out what Mel had done.

"We don't have the staff." Gyendal finally said.

The Shadow Oracle looked up sharply.

"You don't? Why?!"

"When we came through the portal the staff fell somewhere through one of the crevices to the caverns below. I couldn't trace it with my magic so I don't know where." Mel lied.

The Oracle gave her a suspicious look before sighing heavily.

"That poses...a problem."

Mel leaned forward, gripping her scorched robe tightly.

"So what does that mean for us?"

"There is no way back. The Staff of Destiny is the only thing strong enough to open a portal from the other side. That is why it is such a coveted item. You two have no chance of getting through without it."

Then the Shadow Oracle stared off into space.

"Such a unusual turn of events... Especially for a fate touched child."

Mel blinked.

"Fate touched? But isn't everyone's life decided by fate?"

The Shadow Oracle shook her head.

"No. Fate weaves the tapestry but everyone had thousands of paths their life could take and each person's decisions choose that path. The Fates very rarely involve themselves. However, there are some people who fate has a direct hand in their lives. We call them fate touched."

Then the oracle's brows knit.

"However, even without touching you I knew that you weren't destined to come here. It should have been impossible for you to come here, especially since you have a Crimson thread tied to you although I'm not sure who it's connected to."

Mel glanced at Gyendal only to see that he looked as confused as her by all the spiritual talk.

"Both of you me your hand, I want to see what's going on."

Mel offered her hand at the same time as Gyendal and the old woman grasped them in a surprisingly tight grip as her eyes closed in concentration. Suddenly the old woman went tense before her eyes flew open to stare at Mel in shock for a moment.

Then the Shadow Oracle began to laugh.

"Oh, oh my! I've never seen anything like this before in my life! Oh how funny...you were brought here because of the Crimson thread. And your realm touched to. This is hilarious!"

Mel flinched back from the cackling Oracle and yanked her hand free, pulling it protectively to her chest as she stared wide eyed at the old woman.

"W-what's so strange about us?"

The Shadow Oracle wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.

"Not much dear. It's just that fate is playing such a marvellous joke on you and I can't help but find it all very amusing."

Mel paled slightly.

"Fate is...playing a joke?"

"Oh yes! Between the scarlet thread and being blessed by the Staff of Destiny it's most fascinating."

Gyendal growled before slamming his hands down on the bench.

"Will you stop behaving like this is all some game and give us some answers?!"

Mel whipped her head to stare at Gyendal in shock. Was he a idiot?!

"Oh you have a temper when you're scared do you? Oh well, I haven't laughed like this in years so I can forgive you. What can I tell you? Hmm, oh I know! Unless you have the staff you will be trapped down here until you die."

At her last words the Shadow Oracle grinned.

Gyendal rubbed his shoulder and glared at the Oracle.

"So we have to live out our short mortal lives here?"

The oracle began to laugh again.

"Or not so short."

Both Gyendal and Mel stiffened.

"What?!"

"It seems that the staff of Destiny took quite the liking to you. As you both passed through the portal some of it's essence changed you. Congratulations, you are now living the life of a immortal such as a vampire. You cannot die unless killed with a weapon or such and you are unable to commit suicide."

Her words fell heavier then a anvil as Mel and Gyendal processed that.

"IMMORTAL?!" Mel shrieked.

Gyendal just sat there silently looking almost as pale as he had when he was a vampire.

"Yes! And as a side effect you both are more powerful then before. Congratulations!"

Mel had to grab the bench on front of her as her knees threatened to give out on her. She dropped back into her seat with a thump as she stared blankly ahead of her.

They were trapped here in hell.

Forever.

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	4. Exploration

Hello!

So I did a fail for this story, I accidentally missed posting this chapter-_- Siiiiggh, sorry about that! Here's the chapter, hope you all enjoy!

* * *

 **Exploration**

* * *

As Mel and Gyendal walked out of Shadow Aveyond they both were caught up on their own thoughts.

Their conversation with the Shadow Oracle had ended shortly after the old woman had dropped the immortality bombshell and now Mel and Gyendal were focused on going to the city and finding somewhere to sleep.

Mel and Gyendal walked to Sheian Lyr without a word. Once they reached the gates the two of them stopped in the doorway, looking out over the tiny town.

"This is depressing." Gyendal finally sighed.

"You have no idea."

Mel headed through the city with Gyendal a few steps behind until she reached the Inn.

"What are you-"

"I'm staying at the Inn tonight and tomorrow I'm going to try and find a place to live. I don't care what you do."

She walked inside without another word and payed for a bed before heading upstairs to get some sleep.

As she drifted in and out of sleep she heard someone enter and head to the bed on the opposite corner of her. It took her a moment to process who it was in the Inn with her but once it had dawned on her she bolted upright and swung her head to stare at the black haired lump under the blankets in the bed in the furthest corner from her.

After eyeing Gyendal suspiciously Mel rolled over and lay back down.

But she wasn't sleepy anymore. She was on alert, positive that Gyendal would try to do something to her to knock her out so that he could keep her from causing him problems.

Every time she heard a noise from the other side of the room Mel flinched, further on edge.

Finally there was a sharp hiss-like sound from where he was and Mel whirled, firing a blast of magic towards him that blew a hole in the wall just above his head. In the light that now flooded the room she could see Gyendal's wide and startled eyes.

"What. The. Hell."

Mel looked around the room in confusion.

"Wait...I could of sworn I heard some sound like magic use or something." She muttered, more to herself then anything.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a creek and she turned sharply to see Gyendal rise out of the bed, his cloak left hanging on one of the bedposts and he casually strolled towards her.

"That "magical sound" happened to be me sneezing."

The closer he got to her the clearer she could see the expression of extreme irritation on his face. Mel swallowed hard.

Crap.

She slid slowly to the edge of her bed and swung her legs over the side before standing and attempting to leave the room. However Gyendal simply shoved her, causing her to drop back down to sit on the bed.

As she looked up at the powerful and seriously ticked Mage looming over her Mel did what any intelligent human being would and she scuttled back away from him until her back was pressed against the wall behind her.

"You nearly blew my head off because I sneezed. Are you Insane?!"

Mel winced. Yeah...maybe she should have checked before she fired. She was about to mutter something akane to a apology to get him to back off when she caught sight of the glint of dark amusement in Gyendal's eyes.

"You're playing me!" Mel shouted, acting on anger and slamming magically charged hands into his shoulders to send him flying backwards.

Gyendal collided with the bed three rows over before flipping off of it. Moments later he was back on his feet and he was ticked, both hands crackling with energy.

"Your a very stupid girl. You know that?"

Mel shot to her feet, a black pearlescent magic shield surrounding her as her own hands summoned magic fire.

"Well if I remember correctly it's this stupid girl you need to open that portal should that staff ever resurface." Mel shot back.

Gyendal's fists clenched tightly but before he could respond or do anything the door was thrown open as the Innkeeper burst in.

"What is going on here?!"

Both Gyendal and Mel turned to glare at the man who went pale and muttered something about being sorry about disturbing them before hastily backing out of the room and closing the door.

Mel turned back to Gyendal to see the magic crackling around him vanish as he let out a long sigh.

"This is pointless. I'm going back to bed."

Mel let down her shield as Gyendal got back into his own bed. As Mel climbed into her own Gyendal sat up and turned to face her.

"Oh and lamb? If you hear another strange noise why don't you check before firing. I have nothing to gain out of harming you right now and I have no interest in carting around a mangled body even if I did want to hurt you. So refrain from blowing my head off please and thank you."

The last part was heavy with sarcasm as he lay back down, back to her as silence fell over the room.

Mel rolled over as well and tried to fall asleep.

She had barely been back down here a few hours and she already wanted to go crawl in a hole and die. How was she supposed to last?!

* * *

The next morning Mel woke up to someone shaking her. She pried her eyes open and rolled over to see Gyendal leaning over her.

"Get up. We need to find a place to live today."

Then he turned and walked out, his ragged cloak swishing behind him.

Mel groaned and swung her legs over the side of her bed before standing to her feet and grabbing her Mage robe, or what was left of it, off the bed post. Combing her hair out with her fingers Mel shuffled downstairs to where Gyendal was waiting before yawning and stretching.

"So since your so eager to get started to you have a idea of where to go first?"

Gyendal shot her a look.

"Oh so you would prefer to live in the Inn for the rest of our immortal life I take it?"

It was Mel who shot Gyendal the dirty look this time. Finally Mel sighed as her shoulders slumped.

"Seriously though, where do we start?"

Gyendal didn't answer her, instead he walked over to the innkeeper.

"Where would we go if we wanted to get a house up here."

The innkeeper shrugged.

"Dunno. There isn't any room to build a new house. You could ask around but I doubt that anyone is moving. The residents up here are immortal so this is there permanent home. But there's always a chance that one of them is moving so it's worth a shot asking."

Gyendal nodded and Mel followed him out of the inn onto the path outside.

"So we start in that corner and work our way around?" Mel suggested.

"Oh look, a intelligent idea."

"Shove it Gyendal."

* * *

Several hours passed and after leaving the last house Mel and Gyendal could be found sitting on some rocks eating lunch.

"So what do we do now? No one is moving and there is no place to build house."

Gyendal stared moodily out over the city.

"I don't know."

They both sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Mel scanned the city again before sighing and turning back to her food. Suddenly beside her Gyendal sat up, alert as he studied a couple of people that had just exited the store.

"Mel, have you noticed something strange about the city?"

"What part?" Mel snorted.

"Would you drop the sarcasm for once?"

Mel whipped her head to glare at Gyendal.

"Oh pardon me for having a legitimate question."

"I was talking about the inhabitants of the city. Have you noticed anything odd about them?"

Mel was silent for a moment as she studied them before her eyes went wide.

"There are way more people wandering the city then should be able to live here! And they are different people from earlier! But how? We explored this place when we were stuck here when you pushed me in the first time..." Mel stopped there to shoot Gyendal a dirty look before continuing.

"...and the only places with beings like us that live in it are Shadow Aveyond and Sheian Lyr."

Both Mel and Gyendal watched as two of the people walked over to the store with their purchases and then causally strolling in behind the store. They didn't come out but one single person appeared from behind the store waving over his shoulder.

Mel and Gyendal exchanged looks before moving at the same time and rounding the corner to look behind the store. At first they didn't say anything but then Gyendal made a startled noise and pointed to the ground at what Mel had originally thought was a mud puddle.

"A staircase!"

They walked down the stairs that widened significantly once below the ground. They descended through the tunnel before coming out at the bottom into a underground city.

Mel gaped as she looked around her at the city square in front of them with booths and shops set up. Around the market were paths that led to whole neighbourhoods. Creatures of all kinds milled around the streets and one friendly citizen walked over to where a flabbergasted Mel and Gyendal stood.

"Welcome to Sheian Lyr!"

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	5. Memories

Hello all!

Here we go:)

* * *

 **Memories**

* * *

They stood in silence looking over the city for several moments before Gyendal turned on her.

"I thought you said that you had explored the demon realm!"

"I did! So sorry I didn't think to study mud puddles intently to look for secret staircases!"

Gyendal snorted before muttering something under his breath and turning to address at the friendly citizen.

"Do you think you could point us in the direction of where we can go to buy a house?"

"Right over there in the market. First building on the left."

Gyendal smiled and nodded before walking away without waiting for Mel leaving her to jog to catch up with the dark haired male in front of her before reaching his side and grumbling under her breath.

They entered the building and walked up to the desk where a witch was snoozing behind the desk.

"Hey, wake up. We want to talk to you about buying houses." Mel snapped.

The witch yawned and opened one eye to stare at them apathetically.

"I'm sleeping. Come back in a couple of hours."

Then the witch closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair. Mel saw Gyendal's face darken and he leaned forward, slamming his hands down on the desk and making the whole thing jump into the air.

The witch jerked awake and fell of her chair before opening her eyes and glaring up at Gyendal.

"What-"

"We have nearly died several times today and we have gotten some news we did not want to hear. You do not want to test our patience."

The witch blanched before nodding and getting up off the floor.

"O-of course. What can I do for you?"

Mel stared at the witch. Was she stupid?"

"We want to buy houses." She said slowly.

The witch nodded and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Here, both of you sign this and the house is yours."

Mel was about to pick up the pen when the statement dawned on her.

"Wait, did you say house? As in singular?"

The witch nodded.

"No way in hell am I sharing a house with this egotistical psycho!"

The witch blinked.

"You two aren't together?"

"NO!" Mel and Gyendal shouted in sync.

"Really? Oh well in that case..."

The witch put away the one paper and pulled out two separate ones before passing them across the table.

"This street is made up of humans with only one darkling living on it. Gives the highest chance of making friends among the human population."

Mel scribbled her signature before taking the keys from the witch and starting for the door. Time to go see her new house.

* * *

As Mel walked up to her front door she glanced behind her to see Gyendal walking in the same direction as her.

"Please don't make us neighbours." She muttered under her breath.

Gyendal didn't turn towards Mel's side of the street, instead he paused directly across from her and turned to walk up to the house across the street.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Mel, now in a even worse mood then before unlocked the door and shoved it open before stepping inside and closing the door behind her.

She scanned the dirty front kitchen/dining/living room and groaned.

"I hate cleaning." She grumbled before shrugging off her robe and rolling up her sleeves.

"Time to get to work."

* * *

Nearly five hours later Mel could be found flopped across her bed panting as she looked around her now clean house.

"So...tired."

After another twenty minutes of laying there Mel forced herself up and over to her robe, grabbing it and sliding it on before heading out of her house to the market.

Mel stopped by several booths to pick up some food before heading to the seamstress. She entered hesitantly only to stop in surprise at the welcoming brightly coloured shop.

"Uh..."

"Welcome! How can I help you?"

Mel looked to her right to see a vampire standing at a stand with clothing as she spoke around the pins in her mouth.

"Uh...I need new clothes." Mel mumbled.

"Oh of course honey! Those clothes are so burnt and...I just have to make better ones! Come into the back so I can measure you."

The vampire woman hurried into the back leaving a bemused Mel to follow.

"In a normal situation this would be a death wish. I have one messed up life." Mel muttered.

"Oh yes, usually never follow a vampire into a back room. They'll drink your blood without a second thought."

Mel grimaced as she entered the room where the vampire stood with a measuring tape.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude."

"Oh you weren't! It's very true that it's dangerous. However, you have nothing to worry about from me. I don't drink blood from humans. Human blood is so fatty and you never know where it's been! Disgusting."

"Er...I don't know whether to be relieved or insulted."

The vampire laughed before pushing Mel up onto a stool.

"Either works. Now strip."

* * *

Mel emerged from the building two hours later dressed in black pants and a shirt with the promise to return in a week to retrieve the ten sets of her old thief clothes that she had ordered.

When asked if that was all she wanted Mel and nodded and received a highly pitying look from the women.

Mel grumbled under her breath as she headed home. She didn't want pity from anyone about anything, least of all her stupid clothes.

As Mel stepped inside she took the tattered robe she had brought home and placed it on her bed, gently folding it and kneeling at the foot of her bed in front of a chest.

She opened the chest and began to pull out some of the objects. A locket, letters from her friends that she had received between her quests before this last one, a ball invitation, a graduation diploma from Professor Grey, her journals and her most prized possession. All things she had been carrying around in her bag with protection spells for the entire journey.

Reaching out Mel gently lifted up out of the box several flat pieces of slate, cradling them in her hands as she placed them onto the coat.

On two of the three pieces of slate there were magical pictures that Stella had used her magic to put on, pictures of their team. One picture for every quest. Stella had used her magic to withdraw the image of the group of them together from the essence of a tree or bush that was overlooking them and transferred it onto slate.

The first one had just been her, Stella, Te'ijel, Galahad and Edward. They were all goofing off playing a game that Edward called charades and he was in the process of acting out some strange animal. He looked so goofy and the image had captured Mel doubled over in laughter while Stella giggled. Te'ijel was grinning as she made dinner and Galahad was just shaking his head with a smile.

The second slate was her, Stella, Te'ijel, Galahad, Edward, Lydia and Ulf. In this one they were watching as Lydia used her magic to create little magic animal forms to run around in the air. Edward was asking Lydia how she did that while Stella attempted to do that with her own healing abilities and Mel amused herself by throwing rocks through the magic forms in the air. Galahad was sitting and polishing his sword with Te'ijel leaning against his back with her arms looped loosely around Galahad's neck as she talked to him.

Then Mel pulled up the third one and stared at it silently. This one had been a gift for, June when she had overheard Mel and Edward talking about how Stella had done it for the last two quests. Mel always found the image painful to look at for several reasons.

The first was that the group was very different from the one made up of her friends who she had come to love and cherish. Stella, Te'ijel and Galahad were missing. They had been replaced by June, Yvette and "Spook".

The third picture was of them all sitting around a campfire as dusk fell. They had camped out for the night in the blueleaf Forest and the sky had been completely clear. It had been rather chilly that night and people had all grouped together in sets of two to share blankets as they listened to Yvette tell a ghost story.

June had taken to Yvette quite a bit and so the two girls were huddled under a blanket, Yvette gesturing widely and June practicing little magic tricks as she listened.

Edward and Ulf were sharing the second blanket since they had first watch and both were deeply engrossed in the story.

Then Mel's eyes fell to the third pair and a pang went through her.

The light made her and Spook stand out the best. Spook was sitting with his back leaning up against a log as he listened to the story and his arm was wrapped absently around Mel.

Mel had been exhausted by the time they had sat down and so by the time this image had been recorded by a tree Mel was fast asleep, head resting on the crook of Spook's neck and her body curled into his side.

Mel stared at the picture for a moment longer before abruptly stacking the slate and wrapping it in her coat before returning it to the box.

The second reason she found this picture painful was because of Gyendal.

Mel had never had a crush or anything even remotely relatable to a crush before. Even Edward had never made her feel anything other then friendship and sibling affection. But when "Spook" had show up...

Right from the get-go she had connected with him. There was something about their personalities that had just clicked and Mel found herself talking with him a lot as they walked all over the forests and towns. They had usually ended up cast on watch together because their skills with their weapons complimented each other which gave them a lot of time to talk.

When he had given her those gifts it had made her smile more then anything. For the first time in her life Mel had understood what Stella meant when she talked about Edward giving her those gifts and spending so much time talking and just being with her.

Mel had finally understood that topsy turvy feeling that Stella talked about getting in her stomach.

So she had blindly believed "Spook" when he said he had liked her.

She had believed him so much that she had foolishly allowed him to kiss her.

And then it had all blown up on her face when they finally found the orb of death and "Spook" turned out to be Gyendal.

His cruel mocking words, ridiculing her for ever thinking that he had loved her had hit her right in the heart. Mel had always felt worthless and like no guy could ever like her. Gyendal had just confirmed it.

With a snarl she shoved those thoughts out of her head and standing to her feet. She refused to dwell on this.

She had more important things to worry about. Such as why she had been such a idiot to leave Gyendal alive. Goddess above she hated her emotions and how they got the better of her sometimes.

* * *

 _I hope you all enjoyed the little addition I did with the pieces of slate. As you might already have figured I was one of the people that gave Spook the attraction points, so I was really quite miffed when he turned out to be Gyendal, and then they didn't even give us a crack ending like they did with Rhen joining the Dark Side and fighting with Ahrimen._

 _On a fun little side note, did anyone catch that children's animated movie reference? Those who did and let me know in the comments below will get a cyber hug and a cyber cookie!_

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	6. Why Me?

Hello!

So this is more of a filler chapter then anything, as this story starts to transition into the next step before the main plot.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Why Me?**

* * *

Mel yawned as she stood to her feet, glancing around her house with a soft sigh as she dressed herself in her new clothes. She looked in the mirror as she tied her yellow ribbon in her hair and smiled slightly. With her clothing that was a exact copy of the clothing she had worn when she had gotten involved in this mess she felt much more comfortable.

Yesterday she had received her clothing order from the seamstress and today she was going to explore this lower level of Sheian Lyr. She had yet to meet any of the inhabitants but she knew that she needed to put at least some effort in building a life down here, it didn't matter that right now she wanted to hide in her room and cry.

She had already withstood so much, she refused to let this be the thing that destroyed her.

So out the door she went, closing and locking it behind her before starting up the path that would take her to the market square. Mel was uncomfortably aware of the people she passed gawking at her, a newcomer.

She headed into the city square and as she approached the first stall she noticed a group of girls all gathered near a booth gossiping and giggling. As she walked by they all fell silent and stared at her with a unfriendly gaze.

Mel ignored them and continued past them, half listening as conversation picked up again moments later and Mel rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"Catty airheads have even managed to pollute the demon realm. Wonderful." She muttered sarcastically.

"At least they have deemed you unworthy, you don't have to deal with the brats trying to talk to you." A dark voice said next her with distaste.

Me whirled to see Gyendal standing at one of the booths looking at the food in the stand.

"Poor little Gyendal, he has people who like him. Why they like you is beyond me though." Mel said with a smirk.

Gyendal turned to face her and raised a elegant brow before sighing.

"It's called female hormones lamb. There are some girls who like anything male and human simply because of their hormones."

Mel rolled her eyes as Gyendal accepted a package of food from the booth owner before walking up to Mel with a smirk.

"Oh look, the girls are looking really quite interested now that your talking to me. Have fun with that."

Mel blinked as Gyendal continued past her, his blood red cloak swishing in the breeze. She turned slightly to watch him walk away, irritated for reasons she didn't quite understand simply from talking to him before turning her attention to the group of girls.

All of them were silent and they were all staring at her.

"Oh...crap."

Instantly Mel started moving through the groups of beings that were milling around the market but before she had even gotten a few steps two girls materialized right in front of her, forcing her to come to a abrupt halt.

"What-"

Mel wasn't even able to get a full word out before someone grabbed her shoulder and spun her to face a group of girls behind her. Standing right in front of her was a pale teen girl, probably around eighteen, who had bright pink hair and electric green eyes.

"Hiiii! I'm Kandy with a K and I came over here to say hello and welcome you to the demon realm! I thought you looked unfamiliar but until you were talking to the new guy it didn't click that you must have been the other new person that arrived with him!"

Mel took a half step back, the fake smile that "Kandy with a K" was wearing was setting her teeth on edge.

"That's nice, now-"

"Oh I'm so glad I got a chance to talk to you! See, we're here to welcome and show any newcomers around. You'll hang out with us now!"

Mel slumped. Why her?!

* * *

When she got up the following morning she found herself sitting at her table staring blankly at the wall.

What was she supposed to do now?

She had no friends to do things with, no quests to go on, no where to go to continue learning magic...there was nothing she could really do now.

Mel sighed and stretched, standing to her feet before walking over to her night table. She opened the top drawer and withdrew her dagger, strapping it to her belt before running a finger over her bracelet and glancing over at the door.

She had done a very small amount of exploring when she had fallen down here the first time but not very much. There were paths she didn't follow since they had carried a map with them that helped guide them so they didn't need to wander aimlessly.

So that's what she would do today.

Shoving her feet into her boots she did up the straps and clasps before walking out of her house, locking it up behind her before heading up to the top of Sheian Lyr and leaving the city altogether.

She strode along the path confidently, following the familiar walkway up through the plains to the entrance of the demon caves.

Upon stepping inside Mel let out a long breath and absently brushed her fingers along her yellow ribbon in her hair.

Things may be changing around her, but she would not allow them to change her as a person. She was a strong thief and had always been able to find her way out of a tough situation, this one would be no exception.

She would find a way back to Aia, she just knew it. It would only take time.

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	7. Interrogation

Hi!

So this is another filler chapter, it was amusing to write. Rest assured, things will pick up in the next couple of chapters a bit!

Enjoy:)

* * *

 **Interrogation**

* * *

Mel was sitting in her house eating when she heard a knock on her door. Looking up with a grumble she stood and opened the door, preparing to blast whoever was disturbing her during her meal.

She had just barely opened her door when she was pushed backwards and several girls entered her house, forcing her to step out of the way and open the door entirely.

"Hey Mel! We wanted to hang out with you for a while and maybe show you around the lower area of Sheian Lyr!" Kandy cheered.

Mel stared at her for a long moment, hand still resting on her open door.

"I was eating." She stated flatly.

"Aw that's no fun!" Kandy said teasingly.

Mel gritted her teeth. She wanted this irritating person to go away.

"What will it take for you to let me eat my meal in peace?" She asked irritably.

A flash of frustration could be seen in Kandy's eyes before the pinkette simply laughed and flicked her hands.

"Well we could stay and maybe learn more about you?"

Mel sighed heavily before closing her door and going over to her door, covering it and placing it in the ice box.

"Fine, ask away."

The girls exchanged looks and the atmosphere in the room went from calm and relaxed to tense in seconds. Mel stood stiff as she watched the girls practically zero in on her like prey.

"Well then, why don't you take a seat?" Kandy purred.

Mel's eyes narrowed.

"No. I'll stand thanks." Mel replied evenly.

This was a little bit more then just a question session, this was just like her first day at the school in Thais when Lydia had first descended upon her. This was a test to see if she was going to do as she was told and allow Kandy to control her or not.

"...fine. So, what's your name?"

"Mel."

Kandy laughed.

"No silly, your full name. Like, your last name as well?"

Mel allowed herself the barest hint of a smile.

"I don't know what last name I was born with. I'm a orphan."

The girls all blinked.

"You don't have parents?" One girl asked in surprise.

Mel leaned back again the counter.

"I used to. But they died when I was a toddler. Next question?"

"Oh, um where did you live as a kid?" One asked uncertainly.

"Harburg. Next question?"

She heard a huff noise and glanced at Kandy who's eyes flashed with anger, clearly unhappy about how Mel had taken control of the conversation.

"Did you live with someone after your parents died?"

"Not until I was 18. Next question?"

Before anyone could ask another question Kandy gave a sharp clearing of her throat. Instantly mouths snapped shut and the girls turned to look at Kandy who's smile had vanished.

"I have a question. If you lived in Harburg did you know anyone of the Darkthrop line?"

The soft shuffling of the other girls went silent and the only noise that could be heard is the sounds of soft breathing. Mel mentally debated how to answer before making a decision and meeting Kandy's eyes head on.

"Yes. They're dead now though."

Kandy leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Alright, when you first showed up in town you were wearing a Mage robe. Are you a Mage?"

"Yes I am."

"What kind?"

"One that knows magic. Next question?"

There was a couple of soft giggles before Kandy cleared her throat once again.

"How did you end up here?"

"A extremely unfortunate accident."

"What happened?"

"None of your business." Mel said shortly before watching them exchange looks with a hint of satisfaction. This clearly had not started the way they planned.

Kandy leaned forward, eyes sharpening slightly.

"How do you know the new guy?"

Mel raised a brow. It took them long enough to ask that question. She had been waiting for it.

"Gyendal you mean?"

The girls looked at each other.

"That's his name?"

Mel nodded.

"Oh he's so dreamy!" One sighed.

Dreamy?!

Mel snickered and they turned to look at her.

"Why did you laugh?" One asked dangerously.

"Gyendal's a bastard. Believe me, your better off without him."

There was a couple of gasps at her blunt words.

"A bastard?! What a rude thing to say!"

"Yeah! I bet your just mad because he turned you down or something. I know that I felt a connection with him...he's such a amazing person." One declared.

Mel's eyes went wide before she doubled over in laughter, her arms wrapped around her middle as she laughed.

"You-you think he's a amazing person?! Bwahahahaha!"

There were some angry growls and once Mel recovered her face went from mirthful to irritated in seconds.

"Well, your questions have been answered and now I want to eat my food. Get out."

Mel stepped forward and flapped her arms in a shooing motion causing the girls to stand and allow Mel to heard them out, leaving Kandy and Mel alone.

"Your different." Kandy finally said before smiling in a way that was not unlike Lydia.

"I look forward to...getting to know you."

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	8. Doubts

Hi!

Due to risk of spoilers I won't be sharing my random thoughts up here, but if you are interested in author babble I'll be sharing my thoughts down below:)

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Doubts**

* * *

"Goddess, I hate this place a little more every day!" Mel muttered as she balanced on the rickety ladder repairing a hole in her roof.

She had found it yesterday evening and had been kept awake half the night by light shining in her face. So this morning bright and early she found herself up on a ladder she had found in the tiny shed behind her shack with pitch repairing her roof.

"What are you doing?"

Mel gave a surprised jerk at the sound of someone speaking only to gasp as the ladder wobbled under her.

"Woah!"

Mel reached out to steady herself on the roof but before she could the ladder crumbled beneath her.

"Waaaaa!" Mel let out a yelp as she fell towards the ground, bracing for what she knew was gonna be painful.

But instead of hitting the ground Mel instead landed in someones arms. Her eyes snapped open and she found herself staring up into a pair of highly amused green eyes.

"Just dropping in lamb?"

"Go to hell!"

Gyendal laughed before setting her on her feet.

"You know, using a ladder so old that it crumbles when you move probably was one of your stupider decisions."

"Oh do you have a better idea?"

"Yes. You could always ask to borrow a safer ladder from someone else."

Mel shot Gyendal a black look, not wanting to admit that he was right.

"What do you want Gyendal?"

He smirked and leaned against the side of her house, watching as she picked up the pieces of the ladder.

"Nothing. I was merely curious about why you were muttering at your roof."

"There was a hole in it. I don't have a clue what caused it."

A darker more brooding look crossed over Gyendal's face as he looked around them.

"This realm is cursed, thats why. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

Mel glanced up at Gyendal only for her eyes to widen as she saw his jaw clench and more emotion then she could ever remember seeing in his face before.

"I hate this place." Mel said quietly, not knowing what to do when Gyendal wasn't being a complete jerk.

"I never would have touched that damn staff had I known it would end us up here." Gyendal spat.

Mel was silent as she watched him give a heavy sigh before giving his head a rough shake, his usual mask firmly back in place.

"Whats done is done. We will simply have to survive here now."

Then he gave a short nod to Mel before spinning on his heel and striding away from her, across the street and into his home.

Mel stared after him silently, both confused and startled by the sudden change in Gyendal. Yeah, she had seen him angry but she had never seen him show that kind of emotion before around her.

Maybe he wasn't as much of a unfeeling bastard as she had thought.

* * *

"Bread..." She muttered as she scanned the shelf of different kinds of bread, looking for a small and inexpensive loaf.

"Oh Mel~!"

Mel groaned as she heard Kandy's sugary voice calling her name.

"Mel! So glad I ran into you!"

"Yes. How wonderful." Mel dead panned, reaching up for one of the loaves.

Kandy laughed and walked over, hooking a arm through Mel's much to Mel's displeasure.

"Sooo, I was thinking about when all of us girls chatted-"

"You mean when you guys interrogated me." Mel interrupted.

Kandy huffed, looking irritated for a moment before her fake smile returned.

"Whatever. Anyway, I was thinking about what you had said about being a Mage and I really was wondering, just how powerful are you?"

Mel sighed as she picked up a loaf and started towards the counter where she could pay for her bread.

"Not extremely powerful-"

She was interrupted by a snort and a cough, causing both Mel and Kandy to turn in surprise towards the sound.

Mel blinked before her eyes narrowed at the sight of Gyendal standing and looking at some canned goods a few feet away.

"Pardon, I inhaled a fly." He said solemnly, his voice and face serious but the sardonic amusement in his eyes giving away that his actions and their timing had been on purpose.

"Oh hello! I didn't see you there! Me and I were just hanging out!" Kandy chirped, making Mel roll her eyes as she approached the counter to pay for her food.

"That's nice. Now if you will excuse me, I have things to do. Mel, are you coming?"

Mel blinked. Coming with him?! Not a chance! As she opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she though of his "invitation" Kandy beat her to the punch.

"Noo! Today she and I are gonna hang out! Right?" Kandy gave Mel the puppy look and Mel sighed.

"Sorry, no. I need to talk with Gyendal anyway."

With that she grabbed the paper bag with her bread before giving a short nod and leaving the store, Gyendal coming up next to her and leaving the store.

They walked in silence for a few moments, Gyendal appearing lost in thought and Mel silently wondering if she had finally lost her marbles.

"What did you want to speak with me about?"

Mel glanced up at him before refocusing on the path in front of her.

"Why on earth would I want to talk with you? I simply used you as a way to leave Kandy behind. Besides, you were the one who first asked if I was coming."

He smirked.

"Touché. However I must admit, you surprised me."

"About what?"

"Your cowardice."

Mel nearly dropped her bag at his words before snarling and turning on the tall haired ex-vampire next to her.

"WHAT?!"

His smirk widened.

"Your cowardice. I thought that after everything that happened you would have finally accepted your magic. But your still trying to hide. Have you at least stopped hiding your last name?"

Mel didn't answer.

"You haven't." He stated.

"So what?"

He sighed.

"Honestly lamb, when are you going to stop running? You cannot hide from who you are forever. The whole outcome of the prophecy and my chasing you to use you as the fulfillment might never have happened had you just accepted who you are and used your skills and knowledge accordingly. Instead you ran, hiding your linage from everyone you possibly could and look where it got you. No better off, and perhaps worse off, then of you had stopped fighting your magic and fighting against your involvement with the Darkthrop Prophecy."

"Stop running?! What a load of crap! What would you know about accepting who you are?! From what Te'ijal said of your past you came from a good family and you loved having magic. What could you possibly have to "accept"?!"

His eyes narrowed.

"The fact that in a time when the very word vampire had people going on hunts for "the workers of the undead", or searches for humans who helped vampires catch their prey, I was turned into the very creature I had been raised to hate and fear. I had to accept who I was, against my will, or I would die. I too tried to run, as did Te'ijal. It took my sister nearly dying to protect me before I was able to accept myself. I know all about hating something you cannot change, and trying to run from the mess of a life that fate gives you."

Mel glared at him, her hands clenching and unclenching around her bag.

"I-"

"I do not wish to hear your arguments for they hold no sound base. Just think about my words for once, instead of dismissing them as you did Spook's."

Mel reeled back as if she had been hit at the mention of his "identity" during their quest for the orb of death. Gyendal watched her reaction silently before turning and walking away.

She sucked in a shaking breath before starting to walk towards her house once more, speed picked up until she was almost running. Upon arriving at her house she burst in and slammed the door before throwing her bread haphazardly onto the counter and sliding down the door until she was sitting on the floor, her fists clenching and unclenching as she regained herself.

"I am not a coward." She hissed to the empty room, her eyes staring in front of her unseeingly as her mind replayed Gyendal's words.

But her voice held no conviction, only doubt.

* * *

 _Hi, me again:D So random thoughts time, this chapter really addresses the one thing that always irked me about Aveyond, that thing being the fact that they never really looked at the transition between her resentment of her magic into suddenly accepting. I really wanted to take a bit of a peek into her inner turmoil, which will be further addressed in future chapters._

Anyway, what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	9. Sickness

Hello!

So in this chapter things are going to start picking up, I'm looking forward to hearing thoughts:)

NOTE: I messed up and accidentally omitted an early chapter when I was originally posting the story. The chapter is a fun one, conflict is always amusing:D Look for the chapter entitled Exploration!

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Sickness**

* * *

Mel gave a groan as the dim red lighting filtered in through her curtains, the light forcing her further into wakefulness.

Opening her burning eyes she stared blearily at her roof before attempting to roll over. The moment she started to move her currently achy body protested in the worst way and she quit, instead remaining on her back.

She had been feeling unwell for the past couple of days, massive headache, body aching constantly, dry throat, burning eyes, moments of lightheadedness and dizziness. To put it simply Mel felt like crap that had been run over repeatedly by orcs in a wagon filled with rocks.

After several attempts to swallow with her bone dry throat not cooperating Mel recognized that she needed to get up and get some water.

So with a whimper of pain she forced herself into a sitting position and once she had carefully swung her feet over the side of her bed she stood and shuffled into her kitchen, hand bracing on the walls as she walked.

She retrieved a cup and poured herself some water, drinking it with a relieved sigh before taking a seat at her kitchen table to try and recall what she needed to do today.

Cleaning of the house and shopping. She was completely out of food.

"Aw man." She whined softly, the very idea of getting changed and going out was a nightmare.

But there wasn't exactly anyone else that could do it for her, so Mel stood to her feet with a wince and resigned herself to the torture of getting dressed.

Her day was sucking royally already and she hadn't even been up a half hour.

* * *

"Good morning!"

"..."

Mel ignored the disgustingly pleasant woman and forced herself to continue walking into the market square, extremely thankful that she didn't have to go into the upper levels of Sheian Lyr.

Upon going through the archway that led into the market square and entering the square she was assaulted with a wall of voices and squeaky wheels and just about anything else that could possibly make her headache worse.

"Ah...ow..."

Blinking suddenly blurry eyes and forcing them to clear she started her careful walk across the market to the one store that would have her food necessaries. She needed to get her things and leave before she passed out.

I can do this, Mel told herself.

Encouraged slightly by that thought she managed to get halfway across the square without problem.

"MEL!"

Mel let out a soundless cry of pain at the piercing shriek, one hand flying up to her temple as her headache kicked the pain up a few notches.

"Oh goddess..."

"I can't believe we were able to run into you again!" Kandy cheered with a giggle, reaching out towards Mel.

She threw a hand up to stop the pinkettes advance as she fought the wave of pain.

"Stop." She snapped, her voice coming out thin and breathy.

Kandy got a look of aggravation on her face, opening her mouth to respond before appearing to take in Mel's rumpled clothes and unusually pasty colouring.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"I-..."

Mel cut herself off as her world began to tilt and she grasped for something to steady her. She managed to latch onto a wooden post and she closed her eyes for a moment with a shaking breath before reopening them.

"I'm fine...I just need to be left alone." She whispered.

"You are NOT fine!" Kandy snapped in a shrill tone that made Mel flinch.

She felt the girls gathering around her and suddenly she found herself being bombarded with questions about her wellbeing.

"Stop..." Mel said weakly as her world began to spin once more and she lost her grip on the basket she had been holding to carry her purchases. It fell to the ground with a soft thump and dust pervaded the air, causing Mel to cough sharply as she sagged heavily against the pole.

Distantly she heard a sharp voice call out something loudly but she was unable to process until the mystery person came closer and spoke again, this time in a more demanding way.

"I said back away from her! Give her some space!"

Slowly the slightly blurred forms of the girls backed away until she could no longer feel them crowding in but even with the space given Mel felt her vision pinpoint and her already aching limbs begin to shake.

"Lamb? What- woah!"

Against her will Mel's knees gave out from under her and her oh so heavy eyes closed, Mel collapsing as the nothingness overtook her.

* * *

Gyendal had seen that something was wrong with Mel from the moment he saw her from across the market. Her magic aura was pulsing faintly which was certainly not normal, and paired with her extremely pasty skin and her struggle to walk and it was so very obvious that she was ill.

"Well that's smart, dragging yourself into a busy market when you look like your on deaths doorstep." He muttered irritably under his breath, striding across the market towards her.

"MEL!"

His head jerked slightly and he stared as the pink haired little brat took off across the market towards Mel with her little posse behind her. He saw Mel's reaction and her falling against a post for support before the girls descended upon Mel.

"Oh for-...Get away from her! Are you trying to make her worse?!"

When no one turned to face him his eyes narrowed and he raised his voice.

"I said back away from her! Give her some space!" He snarled, causing the girls to flinch before speedily backing away.

Gyendal shoved his way through the girls before reaching the Darkthrop whelps side, peering down into her chalky face.

"Lamb what- woah!"

He was cut off by Mel's eyes fluttering before her legs buckled and her whole body fell sideways into him as her eyes shut.

He managed to catch her just in time, stopping her from hitting the ground with moments to spare.

"Mel?!"

The dark haired girl gave no response and he swore under his breath before shifting her against him and scooping her into his arms, looking over a the startled girls who were staring at him and Mel in shock.

"Hey pink hair! Do you have a doctor or healer around here somewhere?"

The girl fumbled for words before nodding.

"The apothecarist."

"Well then don't just stand there gaping, go get him!" He barked, causing the girl to nod, turn and take off towards the stairs that let above to the upper part of the city.

Gyendal ignored the rest of the girls, shifting his grip on Mel slightly before hurrying out of the market and onto the street leading words their little residence.

Mel gave a pained whine as her body was jostled and he glanced down to see that she wasn't awake, simply reacting to the pain.

"Stupid girl." He hissed, feeling a slight bit of concern well up at the sight of her pathetic form.

He made it to their street in no time before hurrying up to his house and barking a counter spell at his door so that it would let him in before heading into his hut and hurrying to the bed, laying Mel down on top of the covers before waiting on the step for the apothecarist.

He heard voices approaching and moments later pink hair rounded the corner with a tall man next to her.

"Are you the apothecarist?" He called.

The man nodded.

"Kandy said that you needed me for a young woman that passed out?"

Gyendal stepped inside his house once more and walked back towards the bedroom, the apothecarist behind him.

"She appears rather ill."

He led the apothecarist into his room and stepped aside as the tall man looked over at Mel before making a startled noise and hurrying to her side.

"She's extremely ill! Why didn't someone send for me sooner?!"

"No one knew that she was ill until today. She's not exactly social."

The apothecarist nodded before leaning over her and lifting a glowing hand to settle it on her forehead.

"What are you doing?"

"Seeing what ails her. I come from a line of healers but I'm not strong enough to actually heal with magic, simply strong enough to read what's wrong and use my concoctions to fix it."

Gyendal was silent as the man read Mel before sitting up with a sigh.

"So I was correct in my assumption."

"What assumption?"

The apothecarist stood to his feet and reached down to pick up a black bag that sat at his feet.

"I knew she was new to Sheian Lyr and after hearing from Kandy what had happened in the moments up to her passing out I figured that her sickness opus not from a contagious disease. So I brought the proper mediation for her to be given."

The man then opened his bag and pulled out two larger jars with a strange glowing blue liquid in it before setting it on Gyendal's side table.

"What is wrong with her then?"

"Here in the demon realm our time is significantly slower then up in Aia. It's much slower, so for example if someone were to land here when they were thirteen and age to fifteen before going back to Aia over twenty years might have passed. With the darastic difference with how time moves in the different realms is actually causing her system to go into a series of shut downs, which is common when a human crosses int our realm. It's a shock on her system, enough of one that any normal human would have died within hours by this stage. But she has been realm touched, which means that she cannot die from this. The actual atmosphere of the realm cannot kill her."

Gyendal raised his brow at hearing that before signing heavily and rubbing his forehead.

"So in other words, I need to feed her medicine and take care of her until she can function again?"

The apothecarist nodded and closed his bag.

"One spoonful every four hours."

He groaned.

"Of course. Very well, I suppose there's not much I can do about it. Thank you for your time."

The apothecarist nodded before seeing himself out. The moment the door closed behind the man Gyendal muttered a spell to lock the door before staring down at Mel for a moment.

"Every four hours hmm?" He murmured before turning to his bedside table where the medicine sat, eying one of the bottles and a spoon that he hadn't noticed the apothecarist leave.

He released yet another heavy sigh before moving over to lean over his bed and move Mel into a sitting position before grabbing the spoon and medicine, pouring some of the blue liquid onto the spoon and then turning back to Mel.

Gripping her chin he opened her mouth before unceremoniously dumping in the medicine, forcibly holding her mouth shut and then massaging her throat to force her to swallow.

"You owe me." He muttered with a dark look at the girl before pulling her shoes off and maneuvering her under the covers.

"Looks like I'm sleeping on the floor today. Goddess, I hate this place more every single day that passes."

* * *

Pain.

Lots and lots of pain.

Mel turned her head and a strangled cry escaped her lips as her head began to pound and her whole body felt like someone was shoving burning rods under her skin.

She tried to open her eyes but it burned so bad and all she could see was blurry light. The sheets and the covers that surrounded her were not hers, they carried a cold and almost spicy scent that she recognized but could not place.

A sudden fear gripped her as she realized that she had no clue where she was and she struggled to sit up, fighting against the pain that wracked her body.

"Mel! What are you doing?!" A sharp male voice barked, causing Mel to flinch back and renew her efforts to sit up.

Her progress was halted as large hands gripped her shoulders and gently forced her back onto the bed as she struggled against the pain and the mystery person.

"Hey, easy. I'm not going to hurt you! Your sick, you need to lay back and rest."

The voice had lost the sharp edge, although it held no gentleness or kindness. It was simply soft and soothing as it lulled her. Her hand reaching up to grip the persons arm, searching for some measure of comfort as she fell back asleep.

* * *

Gyendal watched as Mel's wide and confused blue eyes became misty once more before closing softly. The hand that had come up to grip his wrist slackening before slipping off him to land back on the bed.

Slowly he released her and straighten back to full height, gazing down at Mel silently as her pain tensed face relaxed and smoothed, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she turned her face to bury it in the pillow her head rested on.

"Spook..."

Gyendal twitched at the mention of that name before he stepped back and left the room, stopping just outside and leaning against the wall as he rubbed his face tiredly.

"You are starting to become quite troublesome. Living here is going to be hard enough as it is without you reminding me of all of those...foolish thoughts from when I masqueraded as Spook."

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	10. Recognition

Hi all!

So this is part two of the mini storyline within the storyline that I started last chapter. This is a definite turning point in their relationship from enemies to not so hated enemies lol, so I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Mel woke up the next time to someone pouring some of the most vile tasting liquid down her throat an forcing her to swallow.

Instantly she shot into a sitting position, gagging and coughing violently as she blindly batted away whatever psycho was trying to poison her.

"?!"

Mel ignored the startled exclamation as she coughed and attempted to recover her ability to taste and breath as the liquid made her entire body feel strange and immobile for a moment.

"What the hell was that?!" She rasped without even looking at the person, blinking hard to clear the blurry vision.

"That, was a medication that is currently keeping you off deaths doorstep."

Mel froze at the sound of a very tired, extremely irritated, and terrifyingly familiar voice coming from next to her.

She turned slowly, dreading what she would see but knowing that no amount of ignoring would make it go away.

"...Gyendal?"

A pair of extremely unimpressed green eyes met her's.

"You nearly hit me in the face. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't drown you in your life saving medicine for that."

Mel swallowed.

"Uh..."

He snorted before standing and placing a bottle of glowing blue liquid and a spoon on the side table before leaning forward and pressing the back of his hand to her forehead.

Mel instinctively moved to slap his hand away but Gyendal caught her hand without even looking, holding her one hand steady and continuing to check her temperature for a half second longer before releasing her and removing his hand from her head, sitting back.

"Your fever has gone down." He muttered to himself before rising and striding out of the room.

Mel stared after him, puzzled as she tried to piece together a few hazy memories from after she passed out. As she waited she glanced around her and it took mere moments of seeing the clothing on the chair in the corner of the room as well as the general scent of the room to realize where she was.

Footstep approached the room once more and Gyendal walked in, muttering something about air headed girls.

"Why am I at your house?"

He glanced up at her blandly before dropping down to sit on the edge of the bed with a heavy sigh.

"I know you place spells on your house to ward it against unwelcome intruders, and I didn't feel like messing around with the door and blowing us both halfway across the city just to settle you in your own house while I waited for the apothecarist so you ended up here."

Then he glanced up at his door when voices could be faintly heard.

"Speaking of which, there he is now."

Gyendal vanished once more and Mel couldn't help but think about the fact that the usually pristine and put together ex-vampire looked very human with the dark circles under his eyes and the tiredness in his movement.

"Well now, you're finally awake?"

Mel looked up as the tall apothecarist walked into the room and stopped next to her, kneeling on the ground beside the bed as he studied her intently.

"You do seem much better. More colour to you, and your eyes are alert. Let me just check..."

Mel closed her eyes as she saw the man's hand begin to glow a soft ivory colour before settling on her forehead like Gyendal had done earlier. His hand remained for several moments giving off a comforting warmth before the apothecarist settled back onto his heels, appearing quite satisfied.

"The sickness has passed. With the help of the concoction I made and Gyendal's care your body has fought it off quite nicely and has adapted to the difference between realms. You no longer need my assistance.

The apothicarist then stood, nodded to Mel and Gyendal, and then briskly strode out of the room. Moments later they heard the door close firmly behind the man and the two of them were left staring at each other silently.

"So you took care of me."

He shrugged elegantly.

"Yes, I decided that if you died I would have no source of entertainment or somewhat intelligent conversation. You not around would serve to be rather boring and I do not wish to be bored for eternity."

Mel nodded before pulling the covers back, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing to her thankfully steady feet.

"I had forgotten how nice it felt to stand without feeling like someone's dragging you over a bed of nails." She quipped dryly as she moved over to her shoes.

Gyendal raised a brow before moving over to the chair and picking up her coat, tossing it to her.

"How long was I sick?"

"A week and a day. Today marks a week and two days."

"And you had to give me the medicine once a day?" Mel asked as she did a rush job of doing up her shoes.

"Try once every four hours."

Mel's head shot up and she stared at Gyendal wide eyed.

"Once every four hours?!"

"It was either that or leave you in the streets to waste away."

"...oh."

Once she had her shoes Mel straightened her shirt before giving a awkward nod and walking out of the room and towards the front door.

Gyendal followed, his steps tired and slightly dragging. Once she reached the door she pushed it open and went to leave before hesitating.

"What is it?" Gyendal sighed, although surprisingly enough not sounding irritated or frustrated.

Mel shifted uncomfortably before finally spitting it out.

"Thank you for taking care of me while I was sick. You didn't have to. So...yeah."

Gyendal blinked before a hint of a smile flickered across his face.

"You're welcome."

Mel gave another nod before practically bolting across the path to the safety of her own house saying the word to let herself in as she heard Gyendal chuckle quietly before closing his door as she entered her abode and hurriedly closed the door behind her.

As she slipped off her shoes and hung up her coat Mel found her mind sticking stubbornly to the knowledge that while she was sick instead of just dumping her somewhere he had taken her in and taken care of her until she was awake.

Why would he do that for her? It's not like he had a real reason he needed to keep her alive.

'You never had a real reason to help Gyendal, but you helped him care for his arm anyway.' The traitorous part of her mind reminded her.

"That's different!" She protested aloud, "I needed a second fighter to help me should I need it!"

'Did you truly need him well for fighting?' Her mind continued.

Mel was silent.

He didn't need her for anything magic wise, the prophecy wasn't in place down here so it's not exactly like he was going to take over the demon realm through her, and there was no way out without the staff that she had thrown into a lake of lava so she was useless for helping them get out of here.

Knowing all that, there was only one possible explanation for his actions.

Maybe Gyendal wasn't the devil incarnate after all.

* * *

Mel was cleaning her house when someone knocked sharply on the door. Muttering under her breath she opened the door and greeted her visitor with a grouchy "what?"

Kandy greeted Mel cheerily, as did the three other girls with Kandy.

"Hi! Did you know that there's a massive city party in the freespace behind the market?"

Mel paused, drying her hands on the towel she was holding.

"No."

"You should come! Everyone else is going, even the ones who live like hermits on the outskirts of the city."

Mel shook her head and moved to close the door.

"Not interested."

Before she could close the door Kandy grabbed it, stopping it only a few inches from the doorframe.

"There's free food. Lots and lots of free food."

Mel stopped.

"Free food?"

"Tables and tables of it."

Mel hesitated for a moment before sighing and throwing the towel onto her small table.

"I'll be ready in a few minutes. Just let me change into a fresh pair of pants and a shirt."

Kandy laughed, clearly pleased about getting her way and Mel sighed once more before closing and locking her door as she headed back into her bedroom.

Quickly changing into a fresh pair of pants and pulling on a fresh green shirt she quickly pulled on her boots, lacing them up and putting on her staff bracelet as she pulled open the door and exited her house under the watchful eye of Kandy.

She murmured a word to set up wards around her house before turning to Kandy.

"I'm probably just getting food and coming home." She stated with no room for argument.

Irritation flashed in Kandy's eyes.

"Of course you are."

Mel ignore the sarcasm and followed Kandy and her friends through the streets to a path that led around the market. People and monsters were milling around, laughing and chatting.

Once they entered the main area Mel looked around in mild surprise at how full the clearing was. There were decorations strung up and massive tables of food where people were coming and going. There was also platters of food in the middle of every table that were being passed around and dished off of.

"You should join us." Kandy said, sounding uninthusiastic and more like she was offering out of obligation then genuine interest.

"Not interested, thanks." Mel responded absently as she looked around.

"See you later then!" Kandy chirped, switching moods once more before sashaying off with her friends.

Mel ignored them and scanned the people sitting at the tables, curious about how many people that she recognized that were here. Her eyes bounced over random people until stopping upon seeing Gyendal sitting at one of the more empty tables looking rather bored as he picked at his food. He released a sigh and Mel glanced at him before glancing back at the grab food and run table.

She glanced back and forth a couple of times before slumping and muttering a unpleasant word under her breath then grabbing a plate and making her way through the crowd. She walked directly up to the empty seat next to Gyendal and dropped down with a thump, setting her plate on the table in front of her.

"Mel?"

"I still hate you." She growled as she picked up a bowl with corn in it and dished some onto her plate.

Gyendal was silent for a moment.

"And that's why you chose to sit next to me over everyone else here."

"Misery loves company. That doesn't mean that I don't still hate you."

She glared up at him bad temperdly and watched as he snickered before picking up a large dish filled with delicious smelling roast meat and spearing several pieces before dropping them onto her plate.

"That's nice. Here, have some roast rat."

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posts for others to laugh at, and ignored while I continue the story.


	11. Not Her Again!

Hello again!

Ooh look! A short filler chapter! XD

lol terribly sorry about the micro chapter, I needed a bit of a bridge chapter between the events of last chapter and the events of the next one and this idea served perfectly for what I needed. I promise to update much sooner this time:)

* * *

 **Not Her Again!**

* * *

Mel was stretching in her apartment when she first heard Kandy's voice.

"...and I was like 'ohmygoddess what is she wearing?! She looks like some sort of low budget assassin with all that stuff!"

There were several voices that spoke up in agreement and instantly Mel was up and grabbing her staff bracelet as she shoved her feet into her boots. There was no way in hell she was gonna let that pink haired devil take over her day today.

She rushed to the back window and opened it before hopping up onto the sill and jumping out her window, landing silently on the ground.

She closed her window soundlessly before whispering the words to ward her house and then bolting across the tiny strip of open ground between her and the rock outcropping that had a network of caves in it. Perfect to hide in.

The moment she reached the caves she heard someone exclaim behind her and she bit back a groan at their words.

"Hey! I think I just saw someone run into the caves that looked kinda like Mel!"

She heard footsteps and voices begin to approach the caves. Instantly Mel put on a quick burst of speed and raced down a random path, taking several turns at top speed before stopping and peering over her shoulder.

"You look like your running from a pack or rabid dogs with that wild eyed look." A cool voice observed.

"Great goddess of Aia!" Mel yelped, jumping backwards and narrowly missing smashing her head against the rock wall.

Gyendal watched her reaction with a raised brow and she shot him a look before willing her racing heart to calm down.

"Did you have to do that?!"

He snorted.

"What, talk? It's not like I intended to scare you, although it was a bonus."

Mel rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to make a snarky comment in response before freezing as she heard the sound of Kandy's voice.

"Crap!" She hissed, reaching out and grabbing his arm before taking off down the hall with him in tow.

Gyendal made a muffled sound of protest as Mel ran, taking turns at random without bothering to map out where she was taking them. She dragged her unwilling companion deeper into the maze of tunnels before finally coming to a walk and eventually stopping fully, straining for any sign of the pink haired menace or her friends.

When several moments passed without any hint of the girls Mel let out a long breath.

"Oh good..."

There was a soft clearing of the throat and her head whipped to the side to stare over at Gyendal.

"Well, as lovely as it is being dragged all over these tunnels, I would appreciate you release my wrist and get me back to the entrance." He said dryly.

Mel glanced down at his wrist before blinking at the sight of her hand grasping his wrist and hurriedly pulling it away. He smirked and she glared at him before turning away and scanning their surroundings.

After a moment her brows furrowed.

"Uh..."

"What?"

"I have no idea where we are." Mel admitted after a moment.

"What?! You mean you dragged me in here without knowing how to get us back?!"

"...yeah."

His eyes narrowed.

"You got me lost because your too afraid to face a pink haired brat."

"What?! No! I just wanted to have a peaceful day is all. Although now that'll be impossible..."

She trailed off with a heavy sigh before looking around her and focusing in on the tunnel they had entered this room from before walking towards it. A growl of aggravation came from behind her before the imposing figure of Gyendal fell into step next to her.

"You had better get us out of here Darkthrop whelp, or so help me-"

"Oh shut up. Your not going to do anything to me, you said yourself that it would be boring without me around."

"I have been known to change my mind, do not tempt me to do so now."

Line:-

Mel and Gyendal rounded yet another corner into yet another unfamiliar looking area and Mel let out a loud groan before flopping against the wall.

"It's been a hour and a half already! How are we not somewhere we can at least somewhat recognize?!"

"Maybe because a certain idiot thought it would be a good idea to run through the tunnels without paying any attention to where she was going?"

"Like you've never failed spectacularly. Last time I checked, you were the idiot that thought it was a good idea to grab that stupid staff and declare you would rule the world while we were standing right there." Mel snarked.

"I wasn't the one that went and handed over a family heirloom to someone when it was clear that the object had some sort of power." Gyendal responded condescendingly.

Mel whipped her head to glare at Gyendal who was looking at her with a raised brow.

"Yeah? I'm not the one that got us into this whole mess by licking Mordred Darkthrop's boots and stirring up the whole damn Darkthrop Prophecy."

When the ex vampire didn't respond Mel looked over, dreading the inevitable anger that most likely had silenced him. After all, she was a lowly girl and he was a big powerful Mage that shouldn't be disrespected. Typical jerk behaviour.

But upon looking up at him she was surprised to see amusement on his face instead of anger.

"Ah, there's the little spitfire I'm used to seeing. This realm has made you into a timid wallflower, it's rather sad."

Mel sneered at him before turning away to look down the hall once again. That was the second time he had said something like that which was rather aggravating, last time he pointed out her method of slipping under the radar here and called it cowardice was still plaguing her.

"You've stood there like a useless creature for long enough. Why don't we continue wandering aimlessly again, and this time I'll pick the tunnels we take."

Mel rolled her eyes before pushing herself off the wall. They followed several tunnel paths and by the fifth one Mel was smirking, inexplicably smug about his sense of direction being no more helpful then hers.

"Oh look! We're still...lost. So helpful. Your as useless as I am, and because I know these tunnels better then you, although not by much I presume, I think we should go this way." Mel stated, pointing down the tunnel opposite of Gyendal's choice.

He snorted at her words but followed anyway as Mel strode down the tunnel. As they reached the intersection of tunnels Mel stopped, looking around intently before grinning.

"Hey! I know where we are! Come on!"

They picked up the pace to a almost jog as they hurried through the large and spacious tunnels, past some magic flames, and out a large door onto a bride that led out back onto the plains.

"This is the entrance I used for coming and going when I first got shoved into the realm." Mel said cheerfully as she stretched before turning to Gyendal.

"Looks like I got us out of there after all."

He smirked.

"Yes, after I guided us through the last sets of tunnels. We would still be hopelessly lost if I hadn't stepped in."

"Hah! I could have gotten us out!"

"Oh yes, because your original decision to go in the completely opposite direction of the tunnel I ended up choosing would have gotten us out quickly."

"Whatever."

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	12. Coward

Hello all!

So here is the next chapter, and much sooner then usual:) This one is another turning point chapter, marking a new stage in both character development and story progress we're getting closer to the action plot of the story now, I'm greatly looking forward to sharing those chapters with you! (When I actually write it lol)

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Coward**

* * *

Mel jogged down the path towards her house with a bag of food to put away. She had just finished her errands and she was ready to have a big lunch before relaxing.

But as she neared her house she noticed a certain blob of pink on her steps and groaned, her jog coming back to a walk.

"I just can't escape you for long, can I?" She muttered under her breath as she walked up.

"Hi Mel! I brought food!"

Mel blinked as Kandy held out a larger paper bag before sighing heavily as she walked up to the door and released the magic on the door before entering with Kandy behind her. Arguing with the girl would get her nowhere, she was hardly going to bother with it.

"Set it wherever. Does it need to be cooked?"

Kandy flounced in, the door to her house closing behind her as she set the bag on the table.

"Yeah. I brought meat and broth, it just needs to be heated up."

Mel accepted the bag and looked inside to see a pot, sniffing and smiling at the wonderful scent wafting up.

"I'll just heat this. Do whatever." Mel sighed as she turned to the oven.

Kandy giggled before meandering around the room, Mel ignoring her as she started warming the food, paying little attention as Kandy explored further into her house.

"You have a lot of the same clothes." Kandy called from the other room.

Mel rolled her eyes.

"Is it nessesary to go through my clothing? I have nothing you would find interesting in my stuff I'm sure."

No response and Mel sighed again, heavier this time as she finished warming the food before dishing and setting the two bowls on her table. After covering the remaining food she made her way into her bedroom to see what Kandy was nosing through. As she walked into the room she took note of Kandy standing with her back to the door looking at something.

"What are you doing?"

Kandy flinched before spinning to face her with a slightly guilty expression on her face. Mel looked at her for a moment before looking down at the girl's hands and stiffening. Kandy was holding one of the slate pieces.

"What-?! Why are you touching that! Give it to me!" Mel snapped, reaching out and taking the slate out of a startled Kandy's hands and looking down only to freeze at the sight of the slate from their quest for the Orb of Death with June and "Spook" and Yvette.

"I didn't know you are in a relationship. Or, you were before you fell down here."

Mel's hands tightened slightly before she turned to her chest at the bottom if her bed that was open and set it down gently with the other slate before wrapping everything up and closing the chest against. Her face was dark and angry, causing Kandy to flinch back as Mel turned away.

"Were all those people on all those slates your friends?" Was the hesitant question.

"Yes." Mel said in a tense tone as followed Kandy back into her dining room to eat.

"Do you miss them?"

"That's a stupid question."

Kandy got a affronted look on her face.

"Well sorry for asking about you! Your just so withdrawn and you never talk about you past life. Usually girls would talk about their friends, and they definitely would talk about having a attractive significant other. Your completely different and I want to try and figure you out!"

Mel took a deep breath, the muscle in her eyelid twitching.

"I am not a puzzle for your amusement. I'm not like most girls, I never have been, and you need to keep your nose in your own business."

With that statement the two of them fell into a awkward silence as they ate. Once they were finished Mel cleaned up the dishes.

"Why did you come over?"

"I wanted to bribe you with food to come meet some of the others."

"No."

"I'll give you the rest of the food to keep for yourself~" Kandy singsonged.

Mel hesitated and Kandy came over, taking the pot and waving it under Mel's nose.

"All yours, if you come."

Mel hesitated and Kandy grinned, sensing Mel weakening. Abruptly she pulled the pot back from Mel.

"But if you don't want it..."

"I'll come!" Mel said instantly, grabbing the pot from Kandy and proceeding to put away the food before the pinkette could take her food back.

Once she was done she grabbed her boots and pulled them on, grimacing at Kandy's grin.

"That grin scares me almost as much as Edward's grin."

"Was Edward your sweetheart?"

Mel made a face.

"No way in hell. More like a really irritating and enduring brother. Now, let's go."

* * *

Mel was taken out of the main city area to a peninsula that had some off looking trees and a large shack set up. Kandy pulled Mel down the peninsula until she reached the shack, banging fiercely on the door before showing it open and pulling Mel inside.

"I'm back!" She announced.

Mel looked around to see that the shack was half filled with teens and young adults. There was old couches set up in one corner that sat a group people, and a kitchen area that had a bar set up for people sitting and chatting although it was empty at the moment. There was a gaming area and stairs that led down to a basement. Over in one corner stood Kandy's usual group of girls with some other people, all laughing and chatting. Mel was pulled over to the group.

"I brought Mel!"

"Hi!"

"Yo."

"Hello!"

A variety of greetings were tossed out to her before everyone gravitated over to the only empty sitting space left in the circle of couches. Mel was unceremoniously pushed down into one of the seats before Kandy took a seat next to her.

"Everyone, this is Mel. Mel, this is some of the people or age in Sheian Lyr. We all gather and hang out here and discuss different stuff going on."

Mel shugged.

"Hi."

Muffled laughter.

"So as nice as it is to meet her, why is she here? We're discussing the strange stuff that's been happening out there with our mages." Someone from closer to the back called.

Kandy nodded, her face going a tad more serious.

"I know. That's why I brought her. Mel is a Mage and since she vanishes for hours on end into the plains and tunnels I figured she should be in on this and get a chance to meet you guys."

Mel raised her brow. This might be a interesting conversation afterall.

People gathered around, sitting on the couches, chairs and the arms of the furniture as well as leaning against the back.

Once everyone was seated a tall teenaged guy with a white cloth tied around his wrist stood, his hulking form casting a impressive shadow.

"So I called this to find out if anyone else was noticing some strange stuff happening out in the plains and in the tunnels."

"Like what?" One person called out.

"Like anything."

A few feet away from Mel a girl with a buzz cut waved her hand in the air for a moment.

"Earlier today I was down in the tunnels looking for ægįtė in the walls, the glowing stones that can hold storm magic energy without breaking? Well when I was down there I had been running my hands along the walls when the tunnels began to shake. There were some harmless magic wisps hanging around and I know that we usually use wisps to help anticipate the actual date that the ten year annual earthquake will strike due to how they turn red when something is going wrong, well they turned a blood red colour and actually started Irving off black sparks. I got the hell out of there you can be sure of that, and I'm still shaking from the encounter."

The girl her up her hand and Mel could see it visibly shaking.

Another person, a young guy that was making a flower in his hand grow and then die over and over stood up.

"When I was out in the plains I saw the lava bubbling and releasing strange black and grey wisps that would vanish a few feet above the lava. They radiated magic that I've never seen down here, at least not unless Mordred Darkthrop was wealding it anyway."

There were murmurs and Mel's eyes widened before she straightened.

"Did you just say Mordred Darkthrop?"

People turned to face her in confusion and the large guy with the white cloth studied her for a moment.

"You sound as though you recognize the name."

"Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you all! Mel comes from Harburg, where Mordred Darkthrop was born and lived until coming here." Kandy blurted before turning to Mel.

"You clearly wouldn't have known about him coming here, but instead of dying when his tower collapsed he showed up here. The immortal ones who were realm touched like the people on the surface of Sheian Lyr said that he dropped down outside of Shadow Aveyond with burnt clothes. Since then he was the person with the most power in the entire city, and he was also the only Dark Mage."

Mel blinked.

"The only Dark Mage? But when I was walking in the plains I saw the one with a buzz cut summon a shadow."

Buzz cut looked up.

"First, my name is Kenya. And second, anyone can learn basic dark magic, just like anyone can learn basic healing magic. The only Mage kind not capable of learning dark magic is a healer because it goes against their own magic. But only a true dark Mage is capable of controlling weapons made of darkness and death or powerful dark magic. Mordred Darkthrop was the only Dark Mage here in Sheian Lyr."

Across the table a small girl that semi resembled a china doll jumped into the conversation.

"Oh, don't forget the part about dark mages only existing through family lines. Dark mages don't come from parents when at least one isn't a dark Mage. And when Mordred Darkthrop died his family line was the second to last line with dark mages, the most powerful dark Mage family had vanished years ago, the Ravenfoot's I believe. All that was left was his family line and a line called the Tenobars, who live on the Eastern Isles."

The girl then fell silent and everyone turned back to their conversation, leaving Mel silent as she digested that information. That put her in a whole new position. She was that much more at risk if she devulged her magic abilities, that would tie her directly to the Darkthrop line since she had so foolishly admitted to being born in Harburg.

"...so should we bring this to the attention of the queen and the city council? There are no records of this kind of thing happening ever before. Something is wrong, maybe having Mordred leave and two new people going through the portal at the same time put a strain on the realm. Hopefully it'll stabilize."

Mel looked up at the end of the conversation to see everyone nod and agree and the guy in change give a nod before yawning and stretching before dropping down onto the only empty space on the couch, making it bounce in place.

"That done, we need to figure out how we're going to do the show for the annual night solace this year, it's coming up only a few months and we need to prepare. We need to know who is most skilled in which ability so that we can organize who's doing what. This is gonna potentially be the biggest show yet, and it needs to be flawless."

Instantly hands started flying into the air as people shouted out. Mel turned to Kandy who clearly had already anticipated her question.

"The night solace is the one day a year that it actually gets dark in our realm. It goes almost pitch black and the air gets a slight chill for twenty-four hours, in which everyone gathers in the clearing behind the market where the youth mages put on a show to light the area. It marks the end of the year, and the beginning of the next one."

Mel nodded in understanding before turning her attention back to the conversation at hand, boredom already beginning to seep in. Mel dropped her head back on the couch, absently counting knots in the wood in the ceiling to pass the time until she could leave.

"Hey Mel! You're a Mage! What kind of magic do you do? You don't strike me as the healer type, do you do nature magic or storm magic or are you a enchantress that uses magic to charm?"

Mel looked up and saw that everyone was looking at her. The staff bracelet on her wrist began to warm as she instinctively began to pull on her magic. Her dark magic.

Instantly Mel stiffened and clamped down on the darkness bubbling in her. She couldn't risk showing who she really was, she would never be able to blend into the background and keep hidden if they knew that not only was she a dark Mage, but she was related to Mordred Darkthrop. She would have to explain everything, the prophecy, what had happened to Mordred. No way in hell would she risk that.

"See for yourself." Mel said instead, holding out a hand and watching a small ball of lightning form in her palm.

"Awesome! Your a storm Mage! We needed another one!" Kandy exclaimed.

Mel shrugged and opened her mouth to agree with her statement when the words she had been trying to drown out from the moment they were said burst free and began to play in her head.

" _ **Your cowardice. I thought that after everything that happened you would have finally accepted your magic. But your still trying to hide. Have you at least stopped hiding your last name?**_ "

Mel's hands clenched, and she attempted to shove those voices away but they kept on assaulting her.

" _ **Why are you scared of magic Mel? Being related to Mordred really would suck, but just imagine if you really did have powerful magic! You could be anything!"**_

 _ **"I don't have magic Edward, and I'm not scared of anything! Just drop it!**_ "

The muscles in her jaws were tight and she glared down at her lap, ignoring the conversation around her.

" ** _Rabbit, you really need to come to terms with your heritage. Denying you are connected to the Darkthrop line is useless, and will only bring trouble upon you. People with nothing to hide don't have to fear the truth the way you do."_**

 ** _"Seriously Te'ijal?! Why can't you guys leave me alone about this! I know who I am, I don't need to have you guys constantly ragging on me!_** "

Her eyes closed as Mel aggressively shoved down the magic inside, trying to force it out of easy reach.

 **Are you scared?...You are a coward...why are you running?...you are a Darkthrop, get over it already...** **COWARD** **!**

Mel gave a jerk of her head in a pathetic attempt to shake the thoughts away and stood abruptly to her feet. Conversation halted and people looked over at Mel, startled.

"Mel-?"

"I'm not interested in sticking around for this. I met your friends like you asked, and now I'm leaving. See you around." Mel said coldly as she manoivered out of the couch mass and strode across the room, pushing the door open and exiting the hut.

She stalked down the streets, ignoring everyone she passed as she thought about what she had been doing since she got here.

Just like she had done before going to school at Shadwood Acadamy before Gyendal hunted her down again, she was trying to cover up her magic and her family line, and her personality. She was trying to hide the part of her that revelled in the magic coursing through her veins.

"I'm such a idiot!" She hissed to herself, ignoring the strange looks she was receiving.

Mel's lips tightened and she walked into the tunnels, following a path she had taken many times since arriving in the Demon Realm for the second time until she arrived at a cave. The inside of this cave was dull and blank, unlike most of the caves that were lined with ægįtė.

Mel stood there for a moment, lifting a hand and staring down at it as her hand tingled and a flame slowly flickered to life, flickering and dancing as dark blood red outlines of the souls of the dragons that now inhabited her orb staff appeared and vanished. This was the first truly powerful dark spell she had learned, Dragons Bane.

The first dark spell she had used willingly, knowing that this was a spell her ancestor Mordred would have put to use. Since she had arrived back down here, this spell along with Shadow Wind and Unholy light had become one that she refused to touch, as she tried to reconstruct the life she had before ever finding out about her heritage and coming in contact with Gyendal when he had first hired her to steal the orb of Darkness, powers she hadn't used since she first started trying to run from the reality of where her life had taken her.

" ** _Honestly lamb, when are you going to stop running? You cannot hide from who you are forever. The whole outcome of the prophecy and my chasing you to use you as the fulfillment might never have happened had you just accepted who you are and used your skills and knowledge accordingly. Instead you ran, hiding your linage from everyone you possibly could and look where it got you. No better off, and perhaps worse off, then of you had stopped fighting your magic and fighting against your involvement with the Darkthrop Prophecy._** "

Mel's breathing accelerated and her face twisted into a snarl as she reared back her arm and hurled the fire in her hand at the wall.

"AUUGGHH! DAMN IT ALL!"

The fire slammed into the wall and blew a massive hole in it, the fire shooting along the walls and turning the cave into a fire chamber, Mel standing in the middle unscathed as the fire whirled around in the cave, fed by the anger radiating off of her as she glared at the hole in the wall.

It took several minutes before she began to calm, her body slowly relaxing as she slumped forward and the raging fire dying down before vanishing completely as she panted. She may be strong but she still needed a lot of training before she would ever be able to tap the deep magic energy reserves she could feel inside herself.

"My, that was a impressive display."

Mel's whole body jerked as she was startled out of her silence by a voice only inches from her, whirling and raising her hand, another ball of fire already forming in her hand. Before she could fire a iron-like grip grasped her wrist above her head, holding her arm motionless as her eyes met green ones.

"Relax. It's just me." Gyendal said in a surprisingly mild tone.

The fire in her hand vanished and he released her wrist, allowing her hand to drop to her side again.

"What was that? You haven't used your dark power once since we initially arrived and now you're blowing up cave walls."

Mel gritted her teeth together, the muscles in her arm twitching.

"I hated what you said about being a coward and refused to accept it and them today I proved your words right and I hate that I allowed myself to do this again! You were right about me and you can be justified in your stupid condescending looks and your stupid pride about being right and I hate that!" She shouted, a misty shadow beginning to form and coil around her again before she clenched her fists and closed her eyes, breathing deeply and forcing her muscles to relax.

Once Mel was calm again she opened her eyes to see Gyendal studying her intently, no hint of smug or his typical smirk anywhere in sight.

"I'm not "proud" of being right. All along from the very beginning who was the one pushing you further, forcing you to become stronger? In the beginning I did this carefully so that I would actually have some challenge as a vampire who lives for the thrill of the chase, but later as a Mage who loved and respected the craft of magic, especially dark magic, I became tired of seeing such potential locked away. I could sense the magic inside, I just never truly thought that you would unlock it before I finally had you to activate the Prophecy."

Distaste flickered across his face for a moment.

"Through my determination to see you finally accept yourself and unlock the vast amount of magic potential you possessed out of frustration that someome with such power was not putting it to use I became almost attached, I grew tired of your companions coddling your denial and as Spook actually allowed myself to get closer then planned. A unplanned downfall unfortunately. If I had just killed you when I had the chance and taken the orb to Mordred once you had removed the death orb from the pedestal this whole situation could have been avoided."

Mel smirked at that and the corners of his mouth gave the barest hint of a twitch into a smile as he finished.

"Now that you realize what you were doing wrong, the question is what are you going to do to reclaim yourself?"

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	13. Sparring

Hello all!

One more chapter people! Then we finally begin the action plot of this story! You guys have no idea how excited I am to begin the action plot, I cannot wait to share with you guys what I have planned:D This chapter is about as close to fluff as you guys are gonna get for now, so hopefully it's to your guys liking:p

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Sparring**

* * *

Early "morning" rolled around in the demon realm and a tired Mel could be found filling a canteen with water with a sigh before gathering her weapons and leaving her house silently.

The paths had little activity and the usually noisy underground part of Sheian Lyr was quiet. The peaceful atmosphere brought a hint of a smile to Mel's face as she slipped out of the lower level of the city onto the aboveground hills before exiting the city altogether and venturing out into the plains.

She went to a sheltered clearing and placed down her canteen and and a coat before standing in the middle of the clearing and withdrawing her dagger from it's sheath.

Taking battle stance she took a deep breath before closing her eyes and slowly beginning to go through her routine of combined moves, her movements smooth and seamless as she followed a pattern. Her blade made soft swooshing noises and her slightly elevated breathing could be easily heard. She kept her eyes closed and focused entirely on her stance, her heart rate, the feeling of the leather wrapped steel handle of her blade.

This was only the first of several patters she was going to be going through in practice and so with a hint of a smile she brought down her blade with a flourish in preparation of ending this pattern.

Then her eyes snapped open as her blade slammed against hard metal rather then slicing cleanly through the air. She looked up with startled eyes only to see a pair of dark green ones staring down at her as the welder of the other blade watched her without expression.

"Gyendal what-"

"Prepare yourself." He whispered before twisting away and lunging towards her.

Instinctively her blade flew up to block his blade, metal meeting metal with a resounding clang. Mel dodged his next swing and moved out of range, studying him for a moment, adrenaline pumping through her at the prospect of the challenge that Gyendal presented.

Mel faked to one side before lunging, their blades meeting once again as she attempted to bear down on his blade and force it down, him countering with a well placed kick that knocked her backwards as he moved to end the fight. Mel rolled out I the way and flipped to her feet, the two of them slowly circling each other before lunging at the same time, he clashing of the blades echoing through the clearing as they moved and flipped and sparred.

Mel managed to catch Gyendal's blade with her own and attempted to twist it out of his hand only to curse under her breath when he smirked, locking his blade against hers and pulling it tight his way, turning the fight into a test of strength. Mel glared up at him, faces close enough that she could see the sweat on his brow.

They stayed in that deadlock for a few moments before Mel felt his grip loosen slightly and grinned as she twisted his dagger right out of his hand and sent it flying across the clearing. She exhaled a half laugh as she stepped backwards.

"I disarmed you, I win."

Gyendal didn't speak, he simply stared at her for a long moment before raising a brow.

"Your right. You did disarm me."

Then with a smirk his arms shot forward and before she knew it Mel found herself flat on her back, Hands pinned above her head with her own dagger being held gently against her neck.

Silence fell over the clearing, broken only by the sound of their harsh pants as she stared at each other.

"You may have disarmed me, but you didn't win."

With that he released her wrists and stood to his feet, offering a hand to her which Mel grudgingly accepted, allowing him to pull her to her feet before taking her dagger when he handed it to her.

"Never let your guard down."

Mel gave a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, I learned that. That was completely cheating though." She tossed over her shoulder as she walked over to where she had placed her canteen, unscrewing the lid and taking a deep drink of her water.

Gyendal grinned as he wiped his forehead.

"Yes, but through cheating I almost never lose, and in a battle that's all that matters."

Mel laughed before looking around the clearing.

"You should have brought water, I can see from here that your sweating as bad as I am."

He shrugged.

"Well I wasn't exactly planning on this. I was going for a walk when I noticed movement and came to investigate."

She sighed and rolled her eyes as Gyendal pulled his red tunic over his head, revealing a thin black shirt underneath that from where she sat looked slightly damp.

"Hey."

He looked over and she held out her canteen.

"I have enough."

He stared at the canteen in her hand before arching a brow.

"Your sharing with me? Your "hated" enemy?"

Mel glared.

"Well if you don't want the water..."

He snorted before reaching out and taking the canteen as he sat down on a rock a few feet away, taking a gulp.

"Thanks."

"Yeah. Hey, have you ever lost a fight?"

He glanced over at her before looking back over the clearing.

"Yes. To Te'ijal."

"Oh yeah, that night at the keep when you battled with magic and her weird blood power."

He shook his head.

"Not just then, and that was a different kind of situation. I had used up almost every reserve of power because of fights and missions I was sent on that kept me going for a week straight without sleep, by the time I met Te'ijel who was fully rested and at full strength her vampire inherited abilities were unfortunately able to best my weakness. I was actually speaking about various weaponry sparring matches that I have had with her."

Mel looked up in surprise from where she was doing up her canteen.

"Wait, so if you had been at full strength Aia would have already been plunged into darkness?"

"Yes."

"...huh. I'm glad you weren't at full strength. Anyway, you've lost sparring matches with Te'ijel? But she said you were the warrior of the family, the skilled fighter."

Gyendal chuckled.

"Of course she did. Despite everything she still has this irritating pride in "her little brother". And yes I was a feared warrior because I am quite skilled with weapons but I was mainly feared due to my powerful magic. Te'ijel was the weapons master of the family, no one in Ged'here could best her when she fought."

Mel took another drink of water and studied Gyendal with a critical eye.

"Did you ever resent her skill being higher then yours?"

Much to Mel's bemusement Gyendal actually looked mildly surprised at her question.

"Resent her for her skill? No, why would I? I may be adept at handling a weapon, but I have never had any real desire to become a great master, I far prefer honing my skills as a Mage. I was never one that felt that I must be the best at everything, I was quite content in developing my skills as a Mage."

Mel was quiet as she absorbed that little tidbit of information and Gyendal picked up his tunic to fold it before setting it on the dusty ground next to him on top of his cloak. He glanced up at her for a moment, a hint of amusement flitting across his face.

"Is the idea that I don't wish to be the best at all really startle you that much?"

"Of course. You're a egostistical bastard, one would think you would have a superiority complex when it comes to things like that."

Gyendal blinked before bursting into laughter, the low baratone sound filling the clearing and making Mel twitch in complete shock. She had most definitely never heard him laugh like this before!

"My you have quite the amusing view of me. I must say, I rather wish I could read your mind and find out exactly what you think of me, I believe it would be highly entertaining."

"Or it would be really offensive."

He grinned.

"Hardly. Your insults are cute, but hardly hurtful."

Mel's eyes widened and she shot him a indignant glare.

"Cute?! How the hell is what I say cute?! You have problems."

Gyendal smirked and stood, stretching before leaning down and grasping his cloak and tunic before turning to Mel who was also standing with her canteen and cloak.

"I was a vampire for hundreds of years before that cursed orb my lamb, it would be a truly strange occurrence if I wasn't slightly off in some way compared to a human." Then his smirk turned slightly wicked. "Besides, I'm not the one who amused herself by getting up early enough in the morning that the green haired witch would still be asleep so I would put itching powder in her underclothes, once every couple of weeks. I have more class then that."

Mel nearly choked on the water she had just taken a drink off.

"You? Class?! Hah!"

Gyendal snorted.

"Such a eloquent reply. You should feel proud of your skill."

"...shut up Gyendal."

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	14. Reveal

Hello all!

So I have some majorly exciting news to share with you guys, as of exactly ten minutes ago I officially have finished writing the epilogue for Shadows of My Twisted Destiny! The story is now done and sits in waiting for routine updates! *cue imaginary marching band, gun salute, and banner being flown through the air in celebration while the wired author does a happy dance*

Serously though, I'm hugely excited about this:) I can not focus all Aveyond writing energy into Heirs of Darkness which will most definitely be a larger story then this one. In celebration I am going to be doing a double chapter update so you can read two at once instead of just one:D

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Reveal**

* * *

Mel moved through the tunnel system in the demon caves with ease, comfortable in the hot tunnels after spending so much time navigating through them. She was searching for enemies to fight, having finally put the effort into working on her magic skills.

Underneath her feet there was a small tremor, one that had her pausing in place as she tried to place what was happening. Was a pack of fire elementals moving through the tunnels? That had caused minor tremors in the ground before, and those passed quickly.

But the shaking underneath her became stronger, and soon Mel was forced to brace herself as the caves shook harder. Outside she noticed flickering and with short, careful steps she looked deeper into the tunnels where a herd of wisps were hovering together.

At first she glanced over them as she scanned the tunnels, then it dawned on her what she was seeing and her blue eyes flew back to them as she processed the colour of the magic wisps. They were not only black with red swirling inside but right in front of Mel's eyes one of the wisps exploded into a million sparks. Mel's jaw nearly hit the floor.

Something was very, very wrong.

Instantly she was bolting through the cave and tunnel system, the shaking progressing until a rumbling behind her could be heard. The sound steadily growing. Her foot slipped as she turned sharply around the corner, rocks beginning to fall from the ceiling above. As she ran she began to hear a strange noise, separate from the rumbling. It sounded almost like... a child crying.

She picked up her pace as she neared the fork in the tunnel, dodging a rock that nearly slammed into her head.

"MAAAAAMMMAAAAA!"

Mel screeched to a halt at the fork, glancing between the exit and the way she had just come as the rumbling and shaking grew before cursing and running down the hall on the left.

"HEY! Come here kid!" She yelled ahead of her, hearing a sob and small steps.

She reached a little room with glittering walls and her eyes landed on a small crying human boy that was trying to stand only to fall as another tremor came through. Mel reached forward to grab the kid but he let out a wail and pulled back.

"S-stranger!"

Mel growled, glancing back at the hall.

"Hey kid, I'm Mel. We are going to die if you don't come here right now so shut up and let me grab you!" She barked, reaching forward again.

He opened his mouth a second time, clearly about to protest, but a more powerful shake made the cave roof above groan and the boy let out a cry before throwing himself at Mel. She managed to catch him and lift the boy, the child grabbing onto her tightly as she spun and began to sprint back through the tunnels in the direction she had just come.

"We are going to die." She muttered under her breath, the kid wailing as gravel from the ceiling rained over them.

Mel made it to the main hall and bolted towards the entrance, her pace slightly slowed from the extra weight. Outside she could see a small crowd of people although she had no idea for what. Her foot just landed on the dirt that stretched a couple of feet into the tunnel when above the ceiling began to crack, when chancing a look behind her Mel's eyes widened with horror as with a thunderous sound the ceiling began to collapse.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" She roared, bursting out of the cave and practically throwing the boy into the crowd as she spun to see part of the cave outside sheering off and falling towards the crowd.

She never even paused to think, she threw herself forward and sent a blast of Shadow Wind at the rocks. The moment her magic made contact with the rock face there was a blinding explosion, the rocks turning to ash as the blast send Mel flying backwards to land hard on her back.

"...ow."

She could hear shouting and people moving around behind her, but Mel was a little busy sucking air back into her lungs to care. Upside down above her a face popped into view, her eyes meeting dark green ones before she promptly closed her own.

"The last thing I ever see will not be your face. I'd rather see my imminent death befalling me."

"Well luckily for you, you aren't dying. However, that may not last long for you. The people behind me are _very_ unimpressed."

Mel opened her eyes and sat up reluctantly, turning to see Kandy bursting out of the group with several of her friends behind her. The look on the pinkette's face was one of absolute fury.

Wonderful.

"YOU LIED! You were never a storm Mage! You're a Dark Mage! There is no possible way that kind of powerful spell could be utilized by anyone other then a born dark mage." She paused the. her eyes going wide as something seemed to dawn on the pink haired young woman. "You lived in Harburg. You-"

Kandy was abruptly cut off as a imposing figure stepped halfway between her and Mel, providing a partial shield for Mel.

"For a realm that houses demons and the worst that Aia has to offer, the amount of shock you are portraying at the idea that a dark mage might exist down here is rather pathetic. Myths even claim that the first dark mage received their magic from a visit to this very realm." Gyendal said, mockery clear in his tone.

Mel released the breath she was holding, for reasons she couldn't fathom Gyendal had rescued her from a public reveal and although she certainly did not want his help she wasn't stupid enough to try and stop him. Now she needed to figure out how to get out of this.

"You don't understand! The born only dark mage to walk this realm in decades was Mordred Darkthrop! We want answers, answers she owes us!" Someone called from the small crowd that slowly grew as people came to investigate the explosion.

Sudden anger reared in Mel, she was so tired of people trying to push her around.

"You think that just because I'm a mage you have the right to order answers about my life?! I don't owe any of you anything!" She snarled, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

"Ever since you arrived strange occurrences have been taking place in our realm! Strange magic so powerful and malevolent that they make Mordred's power pale in comparison! Our cave and tunnel system is collapsing! Minor quakes are shaking the planes! What have you done?!" Another shouted, the crowd muttering in agreement.

People began to advance and Gyendal dropped back to stand at her side. The tension in the air was palpable and one thing was clear. If things all went to hell, they'd have better luck if they were fighting together, as revolting as that concept may be.

An ogre stepped out of the crowd, scars rippling over the muscles as it gave a grunt and cracked the knuckles in it's fist threateningly.

"We will get out answers from the runt, and you will step out of the way while we do. This has nothing to do with you, stay out of this or we will be forced to teach you what happens when you interfere

Gyendal laughed, the sound cutting and cruel.

"Oh it has everything to do with me. You believe she is responsible due to being a dark Mage? I doubt it. Only a truly powerful Mage could wreak the havoc you speak of, and Mel is not near trained enough to do what you speak of."

Then he grinned, that one simple expression sending chills down Mel's back as she edged away slightly. He looked like the vampire that chased her now, feral and downright evil. He raised his hand, ghostly flames engulfing his hand and licking down his arm. There were shouts and the crowd scrambled back from Gyendal who's eyes glittered with insanity in the glow of the fire.

"Another Darkthrop?!"

"No, Ravenfoot. Perhaps knowing this you might be able to understand my position? Mel is not powerful enough to disturb the realm purposely with her magic. I on the other hand am more then capable of tearing the fabric of this place quite literally. You now have a one in two chance of being right that she is the cause, and is it really worth your safety to be wrong? Crossing a dark Mage, especially with baseless accusations is suicidal and the actions of a fool."

His words were met with shocked and uneasy quiet as the fire in his hands died out. It was like the crowd was frozen, waiting for someone else to act first. It was a silent standoff, the dark mages verses the citizens of the demon realm. Just as the tension was becoming overpowering there was a little voice that called out from the crowd.

"I wanna get through!"

A few people in the front shifted out of the way and the little boy that Mel had rescued wormed his way through to the front. He regarded Mel for a moment with a tilted head before approaching.

"Mommy always says to say thank you to people when they are nice and they help you. Thank you for saving me from the cave, and I'm sorry for kicking you when you were carrying me."

Just like that, the tension was broken. A woman came through to retrieve the boy, hugging him tightly before rushing off with several members of the crowd with her. Others broke off to investigate the smaller pieces of stone that had broken off the cliff and were spilling out from the entrance of the tunnel from the collapsed ceiling. Taking the opportunity presented to her did what she did best, thanks to the training under Professor Grey.

She vanished.

* * *

Knocking on her door had become something of a warning that she was in for an afternoon of misery, Kandy was like a leech or something. She sucked the energy out of Mel with her sheer presence some days.

Today especially Mel didn't want to see the pinkette, it was the first day since it had been revealed she was a dark Mage and she had a very large list of things she would rather do then face a mad Kandy. Eating dinner voluntarily with Gyendal was on that list, and that was saying something.

Maybe if she didn't answer the door Kandy would go away...

Mel crept out of the living room/kitchen and into her room, taking a seat comfortably on her bed and waiting for the girl to go away.

Three minutes passed, she was still knocking.

Five minutes past, she was still knocking.

Mel closed her eyes and laid back. If she could ignore Edward, she could ignore anything.

Click.

"Mel~"

Mel's eyes flew open and she sprung to her feet, throwing open her bedroom door and gaping at Kandy who was calmly stepping through her front door.

"HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?!"

The pinkette ignored Mel and closed the door behind herself before turning to Mel with arms crossed. Kandy had a peevish expression on her face, her posture and body language making it clear she had no plans to leave any time soon.

"So when were you going to tell people who you were, _Mel Darkthrop_?"

"The day that snow covers the Demon planes in six feet of fluffy white snow."

By the look on Kandy's face, her sarcasm had gone unappreciated.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Kandy's exclamation was met with a deadpan stare and the girl threw her hands up in the air.

"You're a Darkthrop! They are only the most powerful dark Mage family line in history outside of the Ravenfoots, who you just happen to be travelling with one of! Do you have any idea what this means?! The Darkthrop's are the most respected and feared Mage line in all of Aia down here! Your ancestor was one of the oldest inhabitants of this city!"

Kandy began to pace, making all sorts of gestures with her hands as the ranted.

"Mordred Darkthrop was fighting to get back to Aia! He was going to fulfill the Darkthrop Prophecy and open the portal, letting all of us travel between Aia and here! He was going to free us! Now you're here and all this time we were waiting for someone to come back and get us while you were living comfortably-"

"Comfortably?! What _comfortably_ am I living?! You think I wanted to come down to this hellhole?! You think I chose this?! I never wanted to be part of this Prophecy mess! I never wanted to be related to Mordred, and I never wanted to end up here! I have this place! I hate being a Darkthrop! The only think that my life since getting involved in this mess has ever brought me is misery!" Mel snarled, hands dropping to her sides to clench into fists.

"What?" Kandy stared at Mel in confusion. "But the apocatherapist said that you had come here before, with other people. You had even spoken with Mordred. Weren't you working with him?"

"There isn't enough money in the world that could have payed me to work with that man." Mel said in disgust.

"But you're related to him!"

"And I never shed a tear when he died."

"He DIED?!" Kandy shrieked, causing Mel to wince and hold a hand to her ear.

"Ow! Do you have to screech?! Yes he died! He tried to kill me so my friends killed him instead!"

Kandy's eyes went impossibly wide and she gasped, hand flying to her mouth.

"But the portal..."

"You really think he would have opened the portal for you?" Mel said incredulously, "All he wanted was power, he lived for it. He was willing to let his own child die in order to achieve his hunger for power, he would have just as easily closed the portal on your heads as he did lie to your faces."

There was a slam and Mel stared as Kandy slammed both small fists down on the table, looking positively livid.

"You're wrong, you knew nothing about him! You stupid freak! You ruined _**everything**_! We have nothing down here! No matter how hard we try to get ahead we're always trapped in the Demon Realm! That rich of you to say he didn't care, you actually had a good life up on Aia and when you fell you didn't even fall alone!"

"A good life?! You don't know anything about me Kandy, don't act like somehow you could possibly ever understand what I've been through." Mel spat. "I never had a good life, I lived as a worthless street rat on the streets of harburg until I was seventeen and when I finally had the chance to do a job that might move me onto a better place I was tricked into that Prophecy. I've spent the last few years of my life constantly on the run from my Destiny, and just when I thought I would finally have the life I had always wanted I was pushed through the portal to be trapped forever down here with that bastard!"

"You mean the Ravenfoot Mage? I thought you guys were friends." Kandy shot back, disbelieving and sceptical of Mel's angry response.

"GYENDAL IS THE REASON I WAS PULLED INTO THE PROPHECY IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Mel roared, magic sparking off her skin as the pressure from everything finally pushed her past her limits.

Everything was crumbling around her. Her attempt at reconstructing the life she had been living before this mess was being blown apart. She had hidden her name, her power, her reason for ending up here in the first place, and her situation with Gyendal. But now that was useless and with all the rage and pain bubbling to the surface Mel found her mouth running away with her.

"He was a vampire then, not that I had any idea. All he did was pay me to steal a family heirloom, the Darkthrop orb from Mordred's keep, he never told me that it was mine. I stole it, and in payment he tried to use me to plunge my world into darkness. From then on I was forced to run, to abandon everything. I made friends and then I nearly lost them to his attacks as they risked their lives to help me. I thought I had found someone that loved me as me, but that was destroyed too. Everything I got was taken from me by that bastard, and you think that we were friends?!"

The anger was all but completely gone on Kandy's face, replaced by utter and complete bafflement. "Wait... Gyendal killed your sweetheart?"

"My "sweetheart" never existed in the first place! It was all a lie, a lie that I fell for quite literally. It was Gyendal, he played his part as the quiet thief Spook perfectly and actually managed to get my attention. It should have known it would be fake, should have known that it was too good to be true. But I didn't, I was such a fool and I trusted him." Mel's raked her fingers through her hair, ignoring the pain as they caught and ripped tangles. "I revealed things about my past and my real thoughts on the whole prophecy mess with him that I hadn't shared with anyone else, then he grabbed that orb and turned into the very man I was fighting against."

Kandy took a hesitant step forward, studying Mel carefully.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Mel barked out a hard laugh, shrugging.

"Hell if I know. You already know all my other dirty little secrets, might as well throw it all out there before my brain catches up with my mouth. Not much else to share now, unless you want to know about the crescent shaped tattoo on my-"

"Please don't finish that statement." Kandy interrupted,

Mel smirking despite the situation.

"Uh...can I ask you a question though?" The pinkette questioned hesitantly.

With a shrug Mel grabbed a seat and slid into it, watching as Kandy studied the wall intently for a moment.

"If you have that much of a grudge against Gyendal, why do you still spend time near him? I mean, he tried to take over your world with you against your will and betrayed you by fooling you into developing feelings for his alter ego..."

Mel rolled her neck and her hand tightened momentarily into a fist before relaxing.

"Because I can be myself since it's pointless to pretend anything otherwise, I can spar and train with him and fight dirty since he'll do the exact same thing, I can openly hate him, and he's the only thing left from my life on Aia."

Her list made Kandy blink before resting a finger on her chin, seeming to ponder something.

"You know, have you ever considered the fact that your feelings for Spook might have transferred over onto Gy-"

"AAADDNN that would be enough deep contemplation over my screwed up life. Thanks for coming, please don't ever darken my doorway again because after this I never ever want to see your face again." Mel announced loudly overtop of the girl, a slight flutter of panic in her chest propelling her up and out of her seat to urge the pinkette towards the door.

There was no way in hell she was letting Kandy finish that sentence. That was dangerous territory, and this realm was already turning her into an emotional maniac so she had no interest in pursuing that any further.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Kandy squawked as Mel pushed her towards the door.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm kicking you out of my house." Mel snorted, shoving harder when Kandy braced herself on either side of the closed door to stop her movement.

"Wait! If you let me ask one more question I'll leave without protest and never bring this up again!"

At her offer Mel stopped pushing the girl and stepped back. Sighing, she spun her hands to hurry Kandy up.

"Did you love him? Spook I mean?"

The question gave Mel pause before she finally shrugged.

"I don't know anymore. I cared about him, I would have gladly given my life for him just like I would have for any of my friends."

Kandy shot her a look of something almost close to pity and rested a hand on Mel's arm.

"Mel, you trusted him and probably fought in combat with him from the sounds of your time in Aia, you talked with him and spent time enjoying his company and you just said yourself that you would have sacrificed yourself for him. If nothing else that is the kind of love you see between friends, and it's well on it's way to becoming the head-over-heels kind of love."

Mel snorted and tilted her head back to glare at the ceiling.

"Well then there you go, thats the answer to your question. Yes, I did love Spook."

As if to punctuate her statement there was a crash outside that made both girls jump. Kandy pushed he door open and stepped out before stopping abruptly and getting the most puzzling look of guilt on her face. Mel stepped into the doorway herself, peering out to see what had Kandy so appalled and what had caused the racket outside.

Two metal buckets with a slightly rusted rim lay on the dusty ground rolling back and forth slightly in front of two black boots. Mel followed the path the boots started, over a red tunic and darker red cloak all the way up to a pair of slightly widened forest green eyes and blanched, finding herself momentarily frozen as she met Gyendal's eyes.

Oh screw her life.

Without ever breaking eye contact the ex-vampire crouched down to grab the buckets that several days earlier he had "borrowed" from Mel, rising slowly as his face became blank and his gaze unreadable.

She didn't bother waiting to hear what he had to say about what he had heard, since it was very obvious that he had indeed heard. She simply shoved Kandy out of her doorway, ignoring how Kandy stumbled towards Gyendal who simply sidestepped her and allowed the pinkette to trip past him. Then she slammed her door and hissed the keywords to seal her house in with protective magic wards before dragging herself to the table and dropping down into her chair before draping herself over the table with a loud groan.

She wondered if the Shadow Oracle took resignation slips for living life. Cause if so, Mel would happily hand in her slip and resign permanently from life in general.

She was sure that it would be significantly better to float around as a shapeless blob in the atmosphere then face Gyendal after that little episode.

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored while I continue the story.


	15. Unleashed

Hello again!

So I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. I do apologize for the mini temper tantrum that took place last chapter, but in order to bring Mel to the place where she would actually talk to someone I had to have her pushed far enough that emotion would cloud her desire to keep things private and to herself.

Anyway, this chapter is the beginning of the main action plot that I've mentioned is coming, and trust me when I say that I've got some crazy stuff planned! Prepare yourself...:D

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Unleashed**

* * *

In the smoggy air of the Demon Realm it was nearly impossible to tell the time of day. Morning was dull and smokey with an extra dose of heat, same with afternoon, and evening...

That day was no different as Mel stood in front of the remains of her house with a positively murderous expression on her face. A truly moronic monster that lived in a street nearby had taken it upon himself to talk to Mel about goddes knew what and upon knocking with no answer had tried to force the door open with magic. That was about when her magic wards exploded, vaporizing the monster and reducing her barely holding together house to a pile of rubble on top of Mel who had been working in her room.

She had managed to protect herself and her chest of things from Aia with her own magic as the house crumbled around her like it was made of cards. It had been most aggravating to stand up and look around her at wood and bricks that might as well have been made of air for all the use they had been to her. After digging her stuff out of the house she took advantage of a very handy trick that mages had access to: creating something akan to a pocket in the magic aura that surrounded Mel and followed her wherever she went. She could store all her things in it and withdraw as she desired without actually having to carry a bag with her or lug her stuff around while she tried to rebuild her home.

Thoroughly disgruntled Mel stood straight and grabbed a shovel off the ground from where the magic had thrown it out of her shed before marching determinedly towards the pile of wood and beginning to dig. Might as well start with clearing the useless material.

As she worked Mel began to notice the strangest feel in the air, everything was too silent and to still. Sounds of people living daily life in Sheian Lyr was muted, it was like there was an electrical storm coming with the almost coppery feel in the air.

As she dug she found her shovel hitting on rock, a sudden snap sounding as sparks went flying. Mel yelped and jumped backwards, the shovel falling to the ground. She stared at it for a moment before glancing around the side of her house to see people on the streets. They looked uneasy, glancing up towards the top of the cavern as they headed towards the entrance to the city.

She looked back towards her projects before kicking her shovel out of sight and making her way to the path between the houses, starting towards the stairs that let up the top level of Sheian Lyr. Mel was surrounded on all sides by people as what felt like the entire city migrated up to see what was happening.

Once they reached the upper level she forced her way out of the main crowd, panicked voices and gasps as people turned to face the skyline in the opposite direction of the exit to Sheian Lyr.

"The clouds!"

"What's happening?!"

"The Lightning is red!"

Mel stared up at the sky open mouthed, clouds blacker then the night churned along the horizon. They rapidly rolled towards the town, blood red lighting arcing over the clouds that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Great goddess..."

She began to move through the people, eyes fixed on the pink beacon several feet away. Once she had reached Kandy and her large group of friends Mel grabbed the girl's arm, causing her to turn to Mel with frightened eyes.

"Mel! Can you believe this?! I've never seen something like this before! Kenya said that she can sense the magic from here, it's like all the dark strange magic things that have been seen on the plains and in the tunnels have joined together! I-I don't know what's going on!"

Mel pulled back from Kandy who turned to her friends, fear and confusion clear in all of their faces. A sudden rumble made everyone stope and brace themselves as thunder crashed, the sound deafening as people instinctively ducked. People began to cry, growing hysterical as people began to scramble back towards the stairs to hide underground. Mel was about to follow when a sharp voice shouted her name and she spun to see Gyendal near running towards her.

Mel glared and crossed her arm tightly, she hadn't spoken to him since that...incident because of her conversation with Kandy and she had no plans to converse with him now. Not when this strange storm was sweeping towards them.

"What do you want?! There's some sort of freaky storm-"

"We need to leave, now." He snapped urgently, ignoring her statement entirely.

"What?! Did you miss those turbulent black clouds coming towards us? We need to get below ground-"

"That's completely useless to us! Can't you feel it?! That storm is formed entirely of magic!" Gyendal snarled, steamrolling over her words. "We need to get away from that storm! The magic coming from it is darker and more malevolent then anything I have ever come across before, and it's like I can feel it locking directly onto us!"

Mel blinked, turning to look up at the clouds uneasily. They were picking up pace at a terrifyingly rapid pace and Mel slowly began to open her magic up to the atmosphere. The sheer weight of the darkness that hit her was nearly enough to knock her off her feet and with several stumbling steps backwards she clamped up on her magic and turned to Gyendal with near panic in her eyes.

"Where do we go?! There's no exit from the Demon Realm! Believe me, I'm looked!"

"We need to go to Shadow Aveyond, the Shadow Oracle is our only option." Gyendal reported as they both turned and started jogging towards the exit.

The next clap of thunder sounded like an explosion going off next to them and Mel let out a strangled cry, hands clutching her ears as her face screwed up in pain. She risked a glance over her shoulder, shock filling her face as she watched the clouds touch down on the ground behind the city.

"RUN!"

Mel broke into a sprint, following on Gyendal's heels as screams began to echo from Sheian Lyr. The monsters that usually walked the plains were nowhere to be seen and they bolted through the plains, their course set for Shadow Aveyond.

A bolt of red lightning struck the ground behind them, nearly throwing both off their feet.

"Bloody hell!" Gyendal swore as he pushed himself fully to his feet and continued his path.

There was a rumble as clouds rushed towards them and with a burst of speed both Gyendal and Mel threw themselves through the entrance into Shadow Aveyond, passing effortlessly through the magic barrier between the Demon plains and Aveyond.

"Shadow Oracle. Now."

"Yup."

* * *

They hadn't even made it to the temple where the Shadow Oracle resided when the very woman they were looking for shot out of the temple door, eyes Black and teeth bared in a furious snarl.

"You FOOLS! You lied! The staff was not lost, it was broken! You have condemned us all!"

Mel was stopped up short but the oracles enraged roar, glancing at Gyendal who appeared as taken aback as she was.

"Shadow Oracle what are you talking about?"

The Shadow Oracle pointed with a trembling arm towards them.

"You broke the staff! You have released the shard of the soul that is imbedded inside that staff, it will destroy us all!"

Mel gave a sharp intake, her stomach bottoming out.

"What have you done?!" The Oracle hissed, advancing on Mel. "I want the truth!"

"I took the staff from Gyendal before the demon could take hold of his mind and I threw it into the lava!" Mel squeezed out, tone defensive and fearful.

The Oracle let out a string of curses, the obscenities jarring Mel enough to momentarily distract her from the impending doom of the magic clouds.

"You have condemned our realm, you foolish wicked girl!" The Oracle hissed. "You have condemned every layer and the very fabric of Aia!"

"What?! But it's just- I-"

"SILENCE!" The Oracle was breathing heavy as she looked between Gyendal and Mel, and the clouds threatening Shadow Aveyond. "You'll never make it, you haven't been down here long enough to survive the deeper layers."

The Shadow Oracles words were perplexing as the old woman hesitated before starting back to her temple.

"Come!"

Mel glanced repeatedly between the retreating Oracle and the still clear barrier between Shadow Aveyond and the demon realm. The Oracle hadn't given even one straight answer since they had arrived but it was obvious that they were all in grave danger. She and Gyendal followed the Oracle into the temple, watching as the old woman paced back and forth fretfully.

"You have not been prepared...but there is no other option."

The woman rushed to the back of the temple where a large cabinet was nestled in between book shelves, pulling it open to withdraw several wrapped packages.

"You do not understand what you did, it took over a millennia to defeat the demon and shatter his soul so that he could not break free of his prison within the staff! The demon king was drained so badly that the daeva were forced to take over ruling the demon realm for thousands of years until the king was able to recover from the battle. If the demon is able to collect the shards of his soul the demon realm will collapse and if the demon king is defeated the fabric of Aia will fall apart."

Mel stared, perplexed and overwhelmed by the dump of information on her. The oracles words made no sense to her, but by the look of dawning horror on Gyendal's face he knew exactly what she spoke of.

"You believed this to be your permanent home, that this was all there was of the Demon Realm. But you were wrong. The plains are merely a taste of what this realm is, the surface layer that hide the true nature of this realm. There are seven layers within this realm, each one abiding by it's own rules of reality." The Oracle took a deep breath, then continued. "This is the Genesis layer, the original layer of the demon realm. All creatures come here first, and for those that are realm touched they remain here for five hundred years. If I deem them strong enough they are send through into the deeper layers, battling and overcoming each challenge the layers present to further prove their worth. If they make it through, they are rewarded with the ability to live in the deepest layer of the Demon Realm with access to all the riches and luxuries they can imagine, serving only themselves and the Demon King."

The Shadow Oracle shoved the two bundles she was holding into their arms, fear and rage clear in her face.

"You haven't even hit the two year mark of living down here, how could you possibly survive any deeper? But we have no other choice now, the demon king is unable to see what is going on in the realm since the disaster with Ahriman that took place centuries ago, the disturbance between realms has blocked his sight. He will not be aware of the threat, he'll be sitting vulnerable as the demon rages through the layers collecting his soul pieces until he is strong enough to face the Demon King. Someone must go to him, he must be warned! It is the only way to save not only this realm but all of Aia!"

"What?!" Mel gaped at the old woman. "That's suicide! We'll never make it, the demon will destroy everything! We need to stop it now! We need to battle it now while it only has the one soul shard!"

The Oracle sneered.

"Fool! You cannot stop the demon, even with only one soul shard he has the power to utterly obliterate you with one simple touch! There is only one being in all the Demon Realm that can match the demons power, and that is the king! Everything is lost if he does not stop the demon!"

The Oracle swiped her hand down and with a resounding clang thick grey sheets of what looked like iron fell over every door and window in the temple, her eyes glittering in the now dim light.

"The first layer you will enter is Acedia, this layer is the home of the first sirens. They sing a song that can lull even the most resilient of creatures to magic into an eternal sleep. You must wear protection to block their song, but even without hearing a note they sing the magic is so heavy that it weighs you down like your wearing lead." The oracles words were ominous as she continued.

"The layers are known as this: Gula, Rhapsody, Tristita, Ira, and the deepest layer being Tartarus, the home of the Demon King and his Consort. Each layer has trials you must pass, preying upon weakness inside of you and capitalizing on the exhaustion that will overcome you as you exit each layer into the next one. If you partake of the challenges within the layer they are presented in, you will be sentenced for eternity. If you carry something from one layer into the next it will lose to power to kill you or chain you to that layer, you will no longer have to fear that item. Do not give in to the trials, if the demon overtakes the king the balance will be destroyed and the fabric of Aia will disintegrate and destroy us all!"

Above the temple there was a hollow boom, the fire in the temple flickering before going out.

"There is no more time. There are healing and mana replenishing potions in there, as well as cassia leaves to bring you back if one of you "dies" and ends up on the border between here and the afterlife. Use them sparingly and wisely, once they were gone you will be reliant solely on your own skill."

The Oracle herded them to the back of the temple, murmuring a magical spell and revealing a ornate wooden door against the far wall. She pushed open the door and rushed down the revealed stone steps with Gyendal and Mel on her heels, stopping in the mouth of a massive stone cavern with an empty archway standing in the middle. The Oracle turned to them, two shimmering lumps of beeswax in each hand.

"Take these and put them in your ears, you will not survive the first layer without them. They are blessed to block out enchantment, which will provide hopefully enough protection."

Another boom and the Shadow Oracle flinched before speaking words so ancient that Mel felt chills run over her whole body. In the middle of the arch a shimmering wall appeared, the colours dark and foreboding as they churned.

"You will never be able to return this way, I will destroy this arch the moment you pass through. That will buy you enough time to give you a head start before the demon recreates the portal and passes through. May the blessing of the goddess surround you and carry you through to her counterpart, the Demon King, in time to stop the demon."

They barely got the chance to place the plugs in their ears before Mel once again found herself being pushed through a portal. A feeling of weightlessness overtook her for a moment before she stepped out into the first layer next to Gyendal.

The portal vanished behind them, the magical enchantment of that layer washing over them without mercy. The sheer power of it made Mel's head heavy and despite her fighting she was just so, so tired.

She barely even registered as the unheard Siren song overwhelmed her and her eyes began to close.

* * *

So what did you guys think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue my stories.


	16. Temptation

Hello all!

So this is the first chapter following their grand quest through the Demon realm. Hopefully you enjoyed the last updates and are ready for this one! It is going to move a tad slow this chapter as they get started facing the challenges of these layers, but I promise that things really pick up come next chapter!

Enjoy:)

* * *

 **Temptation**

* * *

Mel's eyes snapped open as she began to fall and she reached out a hand to catch herself. The feel of her skin grating against the ground to hold her up and the pain of the gravel cutting into her palm brought her a sliver of clarity. It was the enchantment, and it was more powerful then she could have possibly realized.

Her muscles quivered with the effort of keeping herself upright and not just giving in to the song. Shake her head violently Mel bit the inside of her cheek as hard as she could, the coppery flavour of blood filling her mouth.

Struggling, Mel pushed herself upright and looked over at Gyendal who had staggered back several steps. His eyes were closed and she reached out, punching his shoulder as hard as she could. His eyes snapped open and he snarled at her, Mel shaking her head again.

"Pain."

She mouthed the word slowly, exaggerating each syllable. She saw realization dawn in his eyes and his hand clenched into a fist, scarlet red beading around his nails a moment later.

By silent agreement they started forward, not knowing what direction they were going but simply following the tugging in their gut. The silence was eery, she could see plants and trees waving in a breeze that Mel did not feel. The leaves and and trunks were ash white, as if the colour had been sucked right out of them.

It was as if the entire realm was lifeless.

They trudged forward through the realm side by side, both entirely focused on keeping their drooping heads upright and battling the sleepy fog over their minds.

The hairs on the back of Mel's neck began to prickle and she glanced around carefully. She had long since learned to trust her instinct after all those years on the street and without even looking over at him she grabbed Gyendal's shoulder, halting him and holding perfectly still as she began to tentatively reach out with her magic.

Movement that Mel picked up out of the corner of her eye had her wheeling to face the trees and bushes to her right. Nothing could be seen other then the trees in the breeze that she assumed came from the sirens song.

There was a jerk on her arm as Gyendal pulled himself free, shooting her a black look before pointing in the direction they were going with the expression like that of an adult being saddled with an easily distracted child. The expression ticked her off and in a rather common show of immaturity she singed the bottom of his cloak before striding past him without a second look.

She could practically feel the aggravation rolling off of him as he caught up to her side.

* * *

Mel stumbled slightly, nearly falling for what had to be the umpteenth time. Her muscles were like dead weights, her head heavy and her movements sluggish. The terrain as far around them as the eye could see was constant and unchanging.

In her left hand Mel clutched her orb staff tightly, unwilling to walk through Acedia without some measure of protection. Letting out a long breath Mel allowed herself to close her eyes for a mere moment, only a few seconds really.

A cold blast of air hit her back, the only movement of air that had been felt since they had entered this realm. Mel wasn't sure which one of them turned first, both her and Gyendal wheeling as a massive black creature with huge scaly wings reared up over them. They reacted simultaneously, Mel firing a blast of magic through her staff and Gyendal throwing out his hand, a magic circle lighting up under his feet as he summoned hellfire on the beast.

It was not the strongest monster that she had ever faced although it was a challenge. But as she backed away from the carcass on the ground and turned to face her unpleasant travel companion she found herself shaken. She always relied of her senses, her ability to hear or feel something approaching. Without being able to hear her surroundings she felt isolated and vulnerable.

"I believe we may have just met one of the sirens." Gyendal mouthed to her slowly, looking rather alert as he turned in a slow circle to study around their surroundings.

"Do do think they'll have sensed the death of the Siren?" Mel mouthed back, glancing around uneasily once he was facing her again.

He was just about to respond when the feeling of exhaustion over them all but completely vanished. Mel's eyes widened slightly as the trees and bushes went completely still.

"They noticed." The two of them said in sync, Mel unable to hear his words but having seen what he said.

The wave of enchantment that blasted over them was enough to knock both the mages onto their backs, the trees nearly bending over with the force of the magic. Instantly they were scrambling to their feet, running in the direction the almost painful tugging sensation was leading them. The ground under their feet shook with tiny tremors, and Mel could feel the pulsing in the air as she assumed the creatures pursued them.

In the distance she took note of a strange black blob, Gyendal waving his hand in front of her face to get her attention as he pointed urgently at said blob before gesturing over his shoulder. One glance behind them and Mel knew that their chances of making it out of this layer had dropped drastically. There was a flock of at least eight or nine of the winged creatures and they were approaching rapidly.

"Oh we are gonna die." Mel said, not caring if Gyendal was able to read what she was saying.

They veered into the ash coloured forest, ducking and weaving through the undergrowth with their course set. The blob began to grow, the closer they got the more clear it became, and Mel realized that the blob was serving as the mouth to an underground cave that sat in the middle of the plain and monotonous terrain. The pulse of the air being buffeted by the winged creatures became stronger the closer they came and with no other option Gyendal and Mel abandoned their temporary covering, racing to the cave.

They were feet from the mouth of the cave when the creature dived towards them, razor like teeth bared and hooked talons grasping for them. Mel dived into the cave with mere inches to spare, Gyendal seconds behind her. As they entered the cave the air at the very mouth of it shimmered, lighting up as the creatures made impact with it.

They could not pass through and just when Mel thought they were safe for the moment one of the creatures latched onto Gyendal's cape that was still partially outside the barrier, yanking it further onto their side. Gyendal's eyes widened and he scrabbled at the fastening, his hands clumsy from the sirens enchantment. His feet slipped as he was yanked towards them and in a last ditch effort Mel grabbed his collar, throwing her entire bodyweight backwards as she yanked Gyendal free. The corner of his cape ripped clean off and they both were sent tumbling backwards, a steep decline behind them that neither had been aware of.

Mel landed hard on the ground with a grunt before shoving herself into a sitting position and looking around the dimly lit cavern they had fallen into. She turned to look at Gyendal who was rubbing his head and waved to get his attention.

"Is it safe to remove the earplugs? With the Magic barrier stopping the sirens I mean? I can't feel the enchantment anymore but..."

Gyendal paused, shrugging after a moment.

"Well lets find out." He mouthed, before reaching over and plucking one of the earplugs out of Mel's ears.

Mel let out a startled shout, rushing to clap her hands over her ears only to stop when she realized that she couldn't hear anything and that the only exhaustion she could feel was from travelling. She let out a relieved sigh, then snarled at him before ripping both earplugs out of Gyendal's ears and chucking them at him as hard as she could.

"You freaking jerk! What the hell is your problem?! Why would you _do_ that?!"

He fended off the earplugs and rolled his eyes.

"I could feel that the enchantment was unable to reach us, I wouldn't have done that if there was a significant chance the siren song still effected us down here."

Mel sneered, standing and staring around her until her eyes landed on an arch almost exactly like the one at the Oracles temple. However unlike the one at the temple, this one already had a portal inside, the colours moving sluggishly and the light it emitted almost unnoticeable.

"So that's probably the portal to the next layer."

Gyendal stood next to her, brushing the grit from the cave floor off himself as he nodded.

"I would assume so, yes. The head start seems to have worked in our favour, let's see how much further we can get before this all goes to hell shall we?" He commented.

"Sure. But we are going to need to sleep before we go very far in the next layer, Gula I think she called it. I'm exhausted, but there's no way I'm gonna sleep in this layer even protected like we are in the cave."

He grimaced, nodding in agreement. Feeling as though she was stepping up to the gallows in preparation for execution Mel approached the portal, taking a deep breath and stepping through.

* * *

"Oh goddess..."

It felt like knives in her stomach, the sudden hunger that hit Mel. Her mouth felt dryer then the desert and pain induced tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as the pain brought her to her knees.

Her arms came around her middle and she dry heaved, the pain brining a level of nausea that Mel couldn't remember ever experiencing before. A groan sounded from behind her and Mel looked over her shoulder to see Gyendal leaning against a tree, pain clear in his own face.

"I think I might have figured out the curse of this layer." Mel muttered.

"Oh you think?" He snarled. "I never would have guessed Mel, thank you for that brilliant observation."

Mel's brain felt scattered in a million different directions, the gnawing hunger fracturing her ability to think and focus. She pressed her hand against her stomach as if to silence the growling of hunger emitting from her.

"Let's just go. I don't want to find out if there are any added challenges this realm might present." She sighed, the two of them once again striking out in the direction the tugging led.

They were walking for what Mel figured was close to an hour when a smell hit her nose that had her eyes lighting up.

"Food! Can you smell that? There's food somewhere around here!" She exclaimed, grinning at Gyendal before breaking into a slow jog as she followed her nose.

Gyendal called for her to wait but Mel ignored him as she picked up speed, eyes locked onto what looked like a row of booths within a gated area that conveniently enough was right along the path that the tugging was taking them.

She reached the entrance of what looked like a farmers market and stopped abruptly, staring around perplexed. There were people here. Smiling, talking, laughing. They were picking up the food and drink offered at the booths, enjoying the delicacies that were offered as the conversed.

"...what is this?" Gyendal murmured, having caught up with her.

"Our next meal." Mel said eagerly, entering the market and be-lining for the closest booth selling meat.

She was so hungry, and all this meat was like attending a royal banquet! She eagerly reached for a kebab stand, her mouth watering in anticipation. Her eyes glittered as she pulled one free, brining it to her mouth to take a bite. It was so close that she could almost taste the succulent flavour of the tenderly cooked meat, but before she could even so much as lick it she found her meal being ripped quite literally out of her hand and thrown to the ground.

"What the-?!"

She turned on Gyendal who stomped the meat beneath his boots before shoving her away from the booth.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She almost shrieked, her stomach howling in time with her words.

"The food is part of the curse!" He snarled, "The Shadow Oracle said herself that if we partake of what the realm offers as part of their trials we will be trapped there for eternity! This realm curses us with unquenchable hunger and thirst, why would it give us this food just to heal that?!"

His question stopped Mel up short as Gyendal looked around before tensing and jerking her to face the direction of the booths, pointing past at some of the open tables behind.

"Why are you making me look at people who are eating?! Are you trying to-"

"No, it's a glamour." Gyendal said, cutting her off as he swiped his hand over her eyes before she had a chance to jerk away.

It was as if she had put on a pair of glasses that brought the world into full clarity. She looked at the people once again and found herself recoiling, the illusion gone. The people weren't healthy and happy. They looked like walking skeletons, their skin stretched over their bones like parchment. Their features were sunken, and they shovelled food into their mouths desperately.

"They're starving." She whispered.

"This food isn't filling them, it only trapped them."

Mel cringed as another stabbing pain went through her middle and she wrapped her arm around her stomach as she started walking forward again, stepping over the crushed kebab.

It was hell for Mel. She had never had enough food, a street rat forced to live off the meagre coin she could make off of her thieving. So many nights would pass of no food that day, and yet she had never suffered quite like this. Passing table after table of food, the freshest and most vibrant of the fruits and vegetables. The best cuts of meat slow roasted over an open flame.

And she couldn't touch any of it.

* * *

Unlike Acadia the Gula layer had a distinct daytime and nighttime. Above them, the sun was already sinking in the sky. The light that illuminated the land was nearly gone, they were all but stumbling in the dark.

"We need to break for the night." Gyendal announced. "We already went longer then a day travelling through Acadia because sleeping wasn't an option. We can't exhaust ourselves."

"Where are we supposed to set up camp, in the middle of the path." Met bit out, glowering at the path in front of her.

"No, we set up in behind the booths near the tables."

Goddess she hated the fact that he could think somewhat rationally despite the hunger. It so wasn't fair.

They stepped off the path, retreating behind the tables to an open clearing that backed onto a cement wall. Mel reached into the magic pocket that she had stored her things in and withdrew one of her Mage robes, bundling it into a ball and setting it on the ground to serve as a pillow.

"I'll take first watch. I can't guarantee that when I wake up if I sleep first that I won't give in to the food temptation." Mel said reluctantly.

Gyendal gave a slow nod, seeming too tired to argue of even say much of anything. Wrapping himself in his cloak the Mage sat against the wall, somehow managing to relax somewhat and sleep sitting against the rough cement surface.

Mel was left to sit and watch the light fade altogether, hunger clawing in her belly. She sighed, shifting to become more comfortable as she gazed up above her blankly.

* * *

If Mel had estimated correctly, about an hour and a half had passed before the sound of constant shifting came from the lump that was Gyendal. She attempted to ignore it for a while, but after a particularly loud shift her patience snapped and she grabbed an old wadded up napkin that had fallen off one of the nearby tables and hurled it at him.

"Stop moving! You're driving me nuts!"

"Oh I'm terribly sorry for disturbing you in my quest to find a way to sleep that will help me ignore these infernal hunger pains." Gyendal sneered, the mockery in his tone so blatant that only a moron could have missed it.

"Yeah well you aren't going to have to worry about those pains if I murder you because your shifting pushed me over the edge." She muttered.

"Please do. If I'm dead I could care less about the fate of Aia and I won't have to travel listening to your complaining."

Mel snorted.

"This is stupid. In fact, this whole quest is stupid. If we're doomed to fail why the hell did she send us here in the first place?! She's all so powerful, why didn't she go herself?"

There was a soft sigh and Gyendal sat up.

"She cannot leave Shadow Aveyond, the Shadow Oracle's power is tied to her part of the Demon Realm. If she left, she would leave her power and her immortality, that's how powerful beings like her work. The fates cannot leave the Dreamland, the oracles cannot leave their Aveyonds except for in short projections, the Demon King cannot leave the Demon Realm, and the Goddess cannot leave her own realm in full form. Aia is governed by balance and when one of the power figures steps outside of those borders it upsets the balance. That's why prophecies are so important, we as the lesser creatures are free to go where we will and can do what these power figures cannot."

Mel turned that over in her mind carefully, thinking back to what the Shadow Oracle had said.

"So everything is balance. That's why Aia would collapse if the Demon Realm was destroyed..."

"Yes."

Mel let out a harsh bark of laughter.

"Wonderful. I get out of one stupid "save the world" quest only to be dumped headfirst into a second one. My luck just can't cut me a break can it?"

Gyendal gave a noncommittal sound and Mel rolled her eyes.

"Oh well, at least this time the person suffering alongside me has earned it in spades. That's somewhat comforting."

"No need to waste all your sympathy on me." He said dryly.

Mel smirked slightly before flinching as another pang stabbed through her. Gyendal settled down again to try and sleep and Mel returned to gazing up at the inky sky above.

As hard as the last quest had been this one was already promising to be worse, and they had only made it into the second layer below Genesis.

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	17. Visions of Freedom

Hello all!

So I'm impatient and reeeeaaallly want to share this chapter so here is an update only a few days after my last one for you all to enjoy lol. This one has been one of my favourites to write, because this is a HUGE milestone in their story. This is actually the first chapter that starts off the streak of important chapters that are all back to back. There are no filler chapters that will be posted for this story any longer, we have officially entered the action sequence:D

Also on a random authors thought tangent that nobody asked for, when I write I always have music playing in the background that somehow has a connection or feel that matches the scene being written. (A special thanks to YouTube lol) and for is chapter, I wanted to share the track that I had playing while I was writing the final half of the chapter, starting from the moment they got into the Rhapsody layer. Behold the grand track of: Island by SVRCINA Would totally reccomend listening to this during the challenge in Rhapsody:)

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

 **Visions of Freedom**

* * *

The next day as Mel and Gyendal set off they were once again bombarded with cheery calls from the booth vendors, offers for sales on the delicacies sold.

"How are we going to survive through the next layers without food, I never had any packed with me other then a fear dried meat strips." Mel suddenly questioned, the realization of how much further they had to go suddenly hitting her.

Her black haired companion peered at the tables they were passing, hunger in his eyes.

"Do you remember what the Shadow Oracle said about these layers?"

Mel blinked.

"You mean that if you partake of the trials you'll be trapped?"

"No. That if we take something from one layer into the next it loses it's power over you." He explained, eyes calculating. "Hypothetically speaking, if we were to gather food from this layer and carry it over to the next ones we would be able to replenish our energy."

He glanced sideways at her and Mel met his gaze for a moment, identical smirks appearing on their faces.

"That's a good point. If we store it in the Magic pocket then neither of us will be tempted beyond the initial collecting of the food." Mel mused.

He nodded, hand going to his belt where his money bag hung. He withdrew several gold coins and stepped up to the meat booth, Mel taking the fruits and veggies one across the way. It was almost physically painful, paying for the food and accepting the package handed to her without even being able to sample. The woman running the booth held out a tray with exotic food samples, waving them under Mel's nose with the offer "just for her" of several free pieces.

Once the packages were stored away in the magic pocket Mel all but ran away from the booth, the temptation of the food getting increasingly impossible to resist. As they rushed along the path she was unable to stop herself from studying the booths as they passed them.

Her eyes passed over a pastry booth on her right and she was just about to completely pass it by when something suddenly dawned on her and she stopped up short.

"Wait a sec, Gyendal hold up a minute. That booth...is it just me or is that booth completely odourless?"

The dark mage next to her slowed, shooting her a look of puzzlement and irritation.

"What are you blathering on about? This layer is meant to tempt, not repel. Of course it isn't going to have an odour."

Mel waved away his snappish reply, to distracted to bite back.

"No, I mean there is literally no scent coming from that booth. I should be able to smell the pies and the cakes, the fresh baked bread. None of the smells from that booth are in the air."

The aggrivation in his features vanished and he stepped closer, sniffing the air.

"You're right. I can smell the food from the other booths, but nothing from this one."

They exchanged looks before approaching the booth, Mel reaching out a hand to touch the wooden counter. Just as her hand was about to settle on the counter the counter shimmered and she found her hand phasing right through.

"What the-?!"

"It's an illusion!" A sudden realization filled Gyendal's face and he stepped forward, directly through the food display case.

The illusion reappeared behind him and Mel quickly followed him through into the back of the booth, suddenly finding herself in a dark enclosure with what almost looked like a stone walk behind her.

"The portal." He observed softly, gesturing to the far wall where another arch sat.

Neither of them hesitated this time, stepping almost eagerly into the next realm and leaving behind the tormenting hunger pain in Gula.

Mel braced herself as she stumbled out into Rhapsody. She wasn't sure what trials they would face this time, but she was just praying that they would be able to make it though this layer as well.

* * *

When they stepped onto the soft moss that lined the ground in the Rhapsody layer Mel locked her knees, all her muscles tensing in preparation for whatever would hit them next.

When several moments passed without incident, no cursed enchantment washing over her, Mel slowly allowed herself to relax her tightened muscles as she peered around them uneasy.

The realm was quiet and felt almost abandoned. Washed out green/grey moss covered the ground and greenery grew all around them. It was as if they had been dumped in the middle of a peaceful forest, a soft breeze blowing through. Above was a feathery grey sky with slightly darker clouds, it was exactly the opposite of anything Mel had expected to see in a place like the Demon Realm.

"I thought she said that these layers capitalized on your weakness. Is this one broken or something?" Mel asked, tone cagey.

She half expected Gyendal to snap at her about tempting fate, but he seemed as suspicious as she felt.

"I'm wondering the exact same thing. This whole place is tailor made to rip apart the people who enter and use their own weaknesses against them, yet this place seems more peaceful then the Genesis layer."

They exchanged looks of unease before starting forward, stepping over tree roots as they moved through the forest. As they walked both eagerly retrieved food from their packs to share, relieved to finally be able to eat and satisfy their hunger.

"You know, the flavour in this is unusually intense. Even when my group stayed with Edward and Stella at the palace after their engagement the food didn't taste like this. Part of the temptation I guess?" Mel observed through a mouthful of food.

"Probably. Adds another piece to being chained to Gula, you can't stop eating because the overwhelming flavour of the food compels you perhaps?" Gyendal commented offhandedly.

Mel shrugged in answer and they lapsed back into silence, the only sounds being their near silent steps and the crunching of their food.

As they walked through the underbrush the strangest feeling began to overtake Mel, a fuzzy feeling. She sucked in a sharp breath as her vision pinpointed for a moment, lightheadedness unbalancing her for a moment.

"Uh Gyendal...?"

"You feel it too." The dark Mage said in response, halting his movement and allowing Mel to pass him.

She slowed to a stop, shivering as the breeze seemed to drop several degrees in temperature. She began to turn, then let out a startled shout as a fog thicker then anything she had seen yet rolled over them. It was sickly sweet and Mel began to couch as she inhaled the fog, her eyes watering.

"?!"

Panic washed over Mel as she realized that she couldn't see a thing, Gyendal had been separated in the mist. Instantly she was reaching out blindly into the fog, grasping for-...

She didn't know.

Mel stared at her outstretched hand blankly, what was she doing? Her hand dropped and she looked around her at the empty mist, calling out with no response. What was she doing here? She tried to think, remember what was going on to bring her here. But it was like a block had been placed over her mind. Or maybe it wasn't a block, maybe there just wasn't anything special that had happened to remember.

She took a trance-like step forward, her foot catching on something and causing her to trip. She started to fall forward only for large hands to grab her upper arms, catching her and steadying the ex-thief.

"Mel! Are you alright?"

Her head snapped up and he found herself face to face with Edward, his hazel eyes sparkling in the light. She gasped, jerking back out of his grip as her head whipped from side to side. She was standing in the communal room of the private floor in the Thais castle, soft voices coming from the other room.

"W-what?" She breathed.

This didn't make sense, she didn't understand. Mel could have sworn that she wasn't supposed to be able to talk to Edward, she felt as though something had happened to separate her from her friends. This wasn't right, she shouldn't be here.

"How am I here?" As she spoke she desperately grasped for a memory, any memory that would explain this.

Concern flashed through Edward's eyes at Mel's words, his hand coming up to rest on her shoulder.

"You don't remember?" At the shake of her head he took a deep breath. "Lars! Can you come here? Mel's having another episode!"

Footsteps sounded as a tall green haired male entered the communal room, gaze filled with concern meeting her own as the young man crossed over to her side and placed a hand on her upper back. Recognition hit Mel, she knew him. Lars Tenobar the eighth, they had been friends during the three months she had spent in Shadwood Acadamy.

"She doesn't remember how she got here." Edward said softly, as if Mel wasn't even standing there in front of them.

"Stop that, I can still here you!" Mel snapped. "I want answers! What am I doing here and what is Lars doing here? You were still attending Shadwood when I left."

Pain flashed through Lars face and he flinched slightly, exchanging looks with Edward who looked sympathetic.

"Mel, both of us graduated from Shadwood Acadamy two years ago. It's been over three years since your "absence" from the Acadamy because of the whole Prophecy. After you returned we became close, our wedding took place several months after graduation."

Mel gaped at Lars who reached over to grasp her left hand and lift up to eye level. Her gaze flicking down to her left hand where a wedding band adorned her ring finger, the band gold and inlaid with mother of pearl on both sides of a glittering green stone.

"...I don't remember."

"I know." Lars whispered, pulling her into a gentle embrace. "After you returned to school you would have episodes like this occasionally, it finally got bad enough that you had to tell the school admin what had really happened during your absence, and you brought me with you as support. It's because of the Demon Realm, it had a long lasting effect on your mind. According to the healers at the priestess temple it's because of the trauma that you went through, your mind will occasionally blank like this."

"But-"

"The memories will return soon, they usually are fully returned within ten minutes if you having an episode." Lars interrupted, pulling back and guiding her over to a couch where she numbly took a seat next to him.

Moments later Stella entered the room, a happily burbling baby braced on one hip. Taking a seat in the chair adjacent to Mel her gentle friend shot her look of sympathy as she settled the baby in her lap.

"We were planning to leave for a day trip to Naylith but we can wait until you're feeling yourself again before we leave." Stella assured her, tickling her baby girl who gave a delighted giggle.

Mel nodded, tensing in surprise as Lars wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to drop a chaste kiss on her temple.

"Take as much time as you need sweetheart."

Mel turned to face... her husband, meeting his green eyes and taking in his encouraging smile.

Green eyes.

A pain stabbed through her head and suddenly the form of Lars in front of her changed, transforming for a split second to that of a tall and commanding black haired male with piercing forest green eyes.

"Gyendal." The name slipped from her lips without Mel realizing, muffled gasps and startled jerks from those around her causing the room to flash as Lars returned to normal.

"What?" Lars questioned, sounding startled as he turned sharply to face Edward who stared at her with his brows up into his hairline. "Wasn't that the name of the dark Mage that dragged Mel into the Prophecy and forced her into the Demon Realm?"

"Yes! Mel, why are you thinking about him now? Did you have a strange dream last night or something? Is that was triggered this episode?"

The feeling of wrongness renewed inside her and she pushed her friends away, pulling away from the man they said was her husband and shooting to her feet as she half ran several feet away from the couch, hands flying up to grip her head as she paced back and forth. Her thoughts warred against each other and very distinct memory snapshots began to flit across her mind.

Gyendal and her falling into the portal a second time as her friends shouted above. Being sick and waking up to Gyendal giving medicine. Hitting a realization of who she was and what she was doing to herself as she stood face to face with Gyendal in an old cave. A danger she just couldn't place threatening everything as she and Gyendal were forced through a portal into a place that dragged her down into exhaustion.

"No, no this isn't right. This isn't real!" She snarled, wheeling to face Edward, Stella and Lars who had stood.

"What are you talking about?!" Stella cried, tone confused and worried.

"This isn't where I'm supposed to be! I was in the demon realm, and I was with Gyendal! _What's happening to me?!_?"

Edward and Lars surged towards her and she stumbled back, hands coming up defensively.

"Mel-"

"NO! How is this happening?! I fell into that portal after Mordred was killed, I know that I did! This is impossible, this isn't my life!" Mel shouted, her panicked voice ringing through the room.

Edward reached out towards her and carefully approached.

"It can be your life Mel, this is your second chance. This is the life you were supposed to live, the one that was stolen from you! The memories will come to you, everything that should have happened right up to this moment will be as if you lived them within the next ten minutes." Her friend exclaimed, voice urgent.

Mel stared and Stella met her gaze with tearfilled eyes.

"Please stay, we miss you so much. This can be everything you lost, you can have it all back and more. Your other life, it will fade from your mind as if had never been. You can be free to be with your friends and live a life free from all of that pain as you do the things you love and experience a full and fulfilled life!"

Mel stared at Stella and Edward. To escape the hell of the Demon Realm, to just leave behind all that she had never wanted to live the life she deserved...

She began to slowly shake her head, not even fully aware of her actions as she looked out over the room.

"Please!" The sudden anguished shout made Mel flinch back, Lars lunging towards her with desperation in his face. "Don't go, don't leave me! Don't leave our children!"

"Children?!" Mel echoed, her jaw dropping as two near identical babies were carried into the room by a harried looking Yemite. One white haired the other black haired, both gazing around with bright blue eyes. They couldn't be much older then one and a half.

"Mistress, they won't stop playing with my wings!" The darkling complained, glaring down at the girls in her arms who just giggled.

Mel stumbled back a step, bracing herself on the wall as the girls were set down on the ground. The white haired one plopped down to sit and play with a toy she was holding in her hand while the black haired girl toddled over to Mel, tugging on her clothes and holding her chubby little arms out in the universal signal for "up".

She sucked in a sharp breath, backing away from the child as her hands trembled. She felt herself waver, looking around as memories of events she had never lived began to filter in. Memories of being at the wedding of Stella and Edward several months after their return from Underfall, Mel attending school and investing herself into her magic studies, her and Lars, stolen moments between classes as the teachers snapped about "Public Displays of Affection" being forbidden, another wedding but this time her own, laughter and tears that had never belonged to her, the birth of the two girls in front of her now.

"I-"

She was beginning to waver. She had a family of her own, friends that were there to support and care about her, she wasn't living in the hellhole known as the Demon Realm. It would be so easy, just let the memories take over until she believed they were real and forget those snapshots of her life in the Demon Realm.

"AHH!"

Mel's hand came up to grip her shirt above her heart, hissing as pain shot through her chest. It was that wrenching sensation just like she had felt that had dragged her close enough that she had been pushed into the demon portal, but this time it spasmed her whole body.

Every moment that passed of her fake life crowding into her mind, shoving the real memories away, the pain worsened and terrified desperation gripped her. Her mind instinctively clung on to the greying memories of what little good there was in the Demon Realm, a certain green eyed and black haired male starring in nearly each and every one of them.

" _ **I can't!**_ " The words were nearly ripped out of her, and even as they left her lips the pain began to fade.

A momentary calm washed over Mel, full and complete clarity filling her mind as the false memories were driven away. She slowly straightened, eyes flitting from Edward to Stella and finally to Lars. It was the easiest thing in the world to see another man standing in his shoes and it only cemented a realization in her that she had been fighting away for over a year, realization that the life she had before she had fallen was something she was never going to get back. She needed to move on or she would never be able to make it.

"You are not my husband. None of this is real, I will not choose a vision of what could have been over the life that truly belongs to me!"

Her body began to glow, a magic circle beginning to form under her feet as she summoned her ticket out of this illusion.

"Stop!" Stella screamed, beside her Edward lunging towards her with hands outstretched.

Mel threw out one hand in front of her, a opaque shield coming up around her and blocking him from touching her.

"You're throwing your second chance away for what?!" Edward shouted at her.

"STOP THIS! You don't know what you're doing!" Lars howled, slamming his own Magic against the shield as if to try and break it down.

"No, I know _exactly_ what I'm doing."

Their protests melted into background noise as she closed her eyes, tapping her bracelet and summoning her orb staff into her hand. Then her eyes snapped open and she thrust her staff out through her shield. Unholy light seemed to burst out of the staff, the illusion shattering into millions of pieces around her before dissipating into the mist.

As the illusion vanished all the memories that the enchantment had blocked from her mind rushed back, forcing Mel to brace her staff against the ground for stability as she recovered from the royal screwing about with her memories and thoughts that this layer had achieved.

Once she had recovered she straightened and opened herself up magically to her surroundings, searching for the immense power that Gyendal radiated. When she found it a small jolt went through her, spurring her into action.

His power was faded and distant, which meant that he was trapped by the enchantment just as she had been.

She needed to find him. Now.

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	18. Haunting

Hello all!

And so I present to you the next chapter that I so kindly left you guys hanging for after the last one :D I hope you all enjoy!

On a side note, Highly, highly (highly highly) encourage that you listen to this song as you read the first half of this chapter until they leave Rhapsody and move onto the next layer:) It was the music inspiration that drove my writing this: When It's All Over- Raign

Enjoy

* * *

 **Haunting**

* * *

Mel shoved through the misty forest, glancing off of trees that were hidden in the thick fog as she made her way towards where she could sense the dark magic.

"Gyendal!"

Her shout was swallowed by the mist and her mouth twisted in a snarl, she was not going to let them lose Aia to some misty illusions. She finally reached the small mossy area between several trees where Gyendal stood and lunged forward, grabbing onto his shoulder tightly and jerking him back towards her.

He moved back towards her blankly, but her action had another highly unintended effect that she hadn't considered the possibility of. Because of her physical contact with the Mage, she found herself pulled into the very illusion he was being trapped by.

"Woah..." Mel muttered as the world swirled around her a second time, forcing her to steady herself with the grip she had on Gyendal's shoulder as she gazed around her wide eyed.

She stood in a homey wooden cabin, a fireplace on the far end of the room crackling cheerfully. Sitting around the dining table across the way sat two adults who she had never seen before, yet looked familiar in a way. She glanced over at the other two individuals, one coming out of the kitchen with a dish of food in hand and the other sliding into one of several empty chairs.

"Te'ijal..." Mel murmured, looking at the woman now sitting at the table.

It was the vampiress she had travelled with for most of her quest, except she wasn't a vampire anymore. Her skin was the same colour as Gyendal's, her eyes violet and her smile fully genuine. Her gaze snapped to the male setting the dish of food down, taking in a version of Galahad that she never truly saw on their travels, smiling and friendly as he chatted amiably with the other people at the table.

"Mel?"

She turned sharply to Gyendal who had half-turned to face her, seeming to have only just registered her sudden presence in his illusion. His enchantment clouded eyes were not narrowed or angry much to Mel's surprise, simply puzzled by her presence.

Mel gaped at him. How was her sudden appearance not jolting him enough to realize this was an illusion?! This place showed you the life you could have had, or the life you wanted! Her face alone should have knocked the part of his brain that could discern between illusion and reality enough for him to register something was wrong!

She opened her mouth to argue when a softer and kind voice called from the table.

"Sweetheart, is that a friend of yours? Don't just stand there, be a gentleman and invite her to join us!"

Gyendal gave a good natured sigh, the first Mel had ever heard out of him, before gesturing to the table.

"Like my mother said, I should invite you to sit. So go take a seat, you're just in time for dinner."

Mel turned sharply towards the laughing woman, realization dawning on her on why she recognized the older couple. The woman's features were so very similar to Gyendal's and her eyes were green, while Te'ijal's sharper features were almost identical to the man's.

"Your parents.."

"Well of course they are, don't look so surprised. You've met them in passing before." Gyendal snorted. "Are you joining us or not?"

Mel shook her head sharply, tugging him towards the entrance of his house behind him.

"I need to talk to you. Outside." She hissed, tightening her grip despite the irritable look he shot her as he attempted to pull free.

"Mother, I'll be right back. Don't wait for me to start eating." He called over his shoulder before herding her out the door and into a beautiful fenced in garden, closing the door behind him.

"What is your issue Mel?! I want to enjoy a peaceful dinner, I have no interest in sitting here for one of your rants. Why are you here?"

Mel's head nearly exploded at his comment, this stupid illusion was weaving her right into it to keep Gyendal distracted.

"What do you mean what am I doing here?! Neither of us should be here!"

The familiar look of irritation flitted across Gyendal's face and he tried to yank his shoulder free, Mel only curling her fingers into his cloak to prevent him. If she dropped physical contact with him she would forced back into the layers reality, she had to keep hold of him in order to try and force him out.

"What are you babbling about? This is my home, I have every right to be here. Stop saying foolish things and let me go eat!"

"No this isn't. Look around you Gyendal! This isn't possibly real, you've been a vampire for centuries before this before becoming human again! Your family would have been long dead, the only family you had left when we met was Te'ijal and her husband!"

He glared at her and ripped himself free, Mel just grabbing onto his forearm as her other hand was pulled loose from his cloak.

"Enough Mel! I will not play your game! You are taking away from my precious family time where we can all gather together, I do not appreciate this!" He snapped, grabbing her wrists to pull her free.

"STOP!" She snarled, startling him enough that she was able to grab onto the front of his cloak and tunic to anchor her hands. "I'm not playing, this isn't a game! You and I are in the demon realm right now, trapped in one of the layers. We're falling prey to an illusion, it's just a trap! How the hell am I supposed to break you out of this!"

The look on Gyendal's face told her that he had now passed mere frustration and was now angry, he grabbed her shoulders and tried to shove her back without success.

"There is no such thing as layers within that realm you fool! I've studied all the records about the phenomenon known as the Demon Realm, a portal has not been summoned in centuries and it only presents itself for evil, or for the neutral to be reborn for the purpose of darkness!"

She gave him an angry shake, at a loss as how to convince him. She didn't know his story, she had no idea how to break through and show him that they were in an illusion.

"How are you unaware of this?! Once I saw the flashback the memories returned, how are you still not seeing the illusion with me standing in the middle of your perfect life! You hate me, we were enemies for years until being forced down into the Demon Realm!" Mel near shouted, several people on the streets turning to see what was wrong. "How do you not remember what it was like to fall through that portal towards the lava, an arrow in your shoulder shot by Te'ijal herself after you went after the Destiny Staff?! Having to take care of me for over a week because I was sick, you were awake every four hours to forcefeed me medicine! Running through the demon plains as we were pursued by that demon of the staff."

She could see confusion in his eyes and a feeling of near-hopelessness washed over Mel. She had to break through, he was holding so much tighter to his illusion then she was. Her mind raced, thinking over all their conversations and everything she could remember him saying or reacting to. There had to be something!

Then it hit her. A memory from the first day they were in the Demon Realm, just as they were looking for the Shadow Oracle.

"Aveyond! In the middle of a forsaken and desolate plain of lava and ash. The birds are chirping and a soft breeze was blowing as crystal waters flowed. You flinched, something happened there! What happened there Gyendal, what did they do to you? Did you go to a priestess when your parents died, were you looking for them to be healed from a sickness or something?" Mel hissed, holding his gaze unwaveringly.

Gyendal recoiled, as if her words had physically stuck him. A look of near panic set him and he tried to twist free from her, but his reaction was exactly what Mel had been hoping for and she dug her heels in to jerk him back towards her.

"I've never been to Aveyond! That was a dream I had, how dare you use that against me! Now release my cloak before I force you too so I can go eat with my family!"

"You don't have a family anymore, you tried to kill your own sister near the begining of this whole mess and she put the arrow in your shoulder that threw you into that portal in the first place! Your parents are dead, you're just as much and orphan as I am, oh great _Lord of Twilight_!"

"ENOUGH!" Gyendal roared, attempting to fling her away from him. "I will not listen to this any longer, you have taken this too far!"

"Clearly not far enough, Aia is going to be destoryed if we don't get to the Demon King in time, we cannot afford to stay in this illusion and you still won't listen to me! You need to wake up and break out of this illusion that your family is here with you. They're dead and we're going to be too if you don't break the enchantment with your Magic!"

Utter fury radiated off the powerful Mage in front of her and Mel was forced to fight against his grip as he tried to yank her hands off his cloak.

"My parents are alive and well and that is how they will remain for as long as I have the power to do something about it!" He shouted, having clearly reached his limit with her. "I will not play your games and I will not turn my back on my family! I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR LIES, I WILL NOT LEAVE AND LOSE MY FAMILY AGAIN!

His words fell heavy and Mel sucked in a sharp breath.

"Again. You said you didn't want to lose your family again."

Her words were soft and she hardly expected him to even acknowledge them, but it was as if she had struck a blow and found the one tiny chink in his armour. He let out a pained hiss, his head flinging back as the illusion around him rippled and twisted and the clouding she could see in the side of his one eye from where she was standing began to fade.

She heard him swallow hard, his Adam's apple bobbling before he straightened his neck to stare ahead. When his face came back into view Mel felt her eyes widen and without realizing she recoiled back slightly, just barely remembering to keep her grip on the cloak as to not get herself thrown back out of his illusion.

The only word she could think of to truly describe the ex-vampires expression was crumpled.

"Again." He grated out, "I've already lost them before. I remember, my parents died and Te'ijal-..."

He trailed off before turning his glare to the house next to them, the anger in his eyes almost succeeding in hiding the pain underneath.

"You said break it with Magic?"

"Yes. That's how I broke mine and got out." Mel explained.

His eyes narrowed and he reached up, grabbing her shoulder pulling her sideways out of harms way as he shoved his hand forward, a veritable wall of black energy practically exploding out from him. The pieces of the broken illusion hanging motionless for a half second before fading completely.

The moment they were back in the reality of the layer Mel pulled back and took several steps away, finding the close proximity discomforting.

"Uh...are you okay-"

Gyendal cut Mel off with a snarl, stalking away into the woods.

"Let's just find that damned portal, I want out of this layer."

Well that was as obvious a hint as anything and Mel wisely decided to keep her mouth shut and leave her companion be, catching up with him silently as they continued in the direction the tugging sensation led them, knowing that it was bringing them to the portal.

Mel pulled the dried meat out of her Magic pocket, deciding that eating would be a productive way to pass the time. They weren't walking for long before they came to an area in the forest where the trees were tightly woven together, as if to protect something within. There was a small entrance and Mel was forced to duck in order to fit through, Gyendal doing the same and coming through behind her.

Inside the protected clearing was the portal arch, the breeze that filtered through frigid. The branches that were on the inside of the clearing were frosted with ice and Mel grimaced.

"Well the next layer should be fun."

"Oh undoubtedly." Gyendal snorted, both of them about as optimistic as a sentenced criminal taking their place on the gallows.

Mel took a deep breath, then with a glance at Gyendal next to her who looked hard and determined she stepped into the portal.

* * *

"Great goddess it's freezing!" Mel exclaimed, her foot crunching on the frozen grass below her.

Gyendal grunted in agreement and Mel reached into the Magic pocket, withdrawing a thick coat to pull on. The chill in the air was far from pleasant and it bit through her warm layers. A feeling of fear began to play in the back of her mind, Mel barely aware it was even there.

"If we keep up a fast pace, it should keep the cold from affecting us too badly." Gyendal said, already starting off at a brisk pace.

Mel quickly caught up with him, glancing around edgily. After the way the past layer played with her mind she was more then uneasy about whatever came next.

This realm was probably the most foreboding yet. There was nothing living here, the grass was dead and incased with ice. All around were dead trees, their naked branches sharp with hanging icicles. Black shadows curled around the dead trees and drifted in small patches over the ground.

"Well this is welcoming." She muttered as they started off.

Gyendal never answered, seeming far to focused on his surroundings. As they walked, Mel began to hear soft and indistinct whispers all around them. Shapes would move at the corner of her eyes, causing Mel to jump and twist to face the direction of the movement only for nothing to be there.

"...Mel~"

"What the-?!"

There was a ghostly laugh and Mel flinched, shifting closer to her companion.

"Am I hearing things or...?" She trailed off, leaving the question open ended.

"The mist is calling to us." He finished, Magic glimmering in his hand furthest from her.

Both of them quickened their pace, edgy and fearing the worst.

"NOOOOOO!"

The piercing scream scared Mel out of several years of her lifespan, causing the young woman to leap sideways and knock Gyendal off balance as she gaped at the empty mist beside her.

"The hell?!" She squawked, ignoring as Gyendal shoved her back out of his space.

"If you're going to freak out please kindly do it without knocking into my person." He snapped, although his tone was more unnerved then angry.

"Tell me that I'm not losing my mind and you heard that too."

"Oh you are losing your mind, but in this situation I did also hear the scream." Gyendal snarked.

"Oh well that's comforting." Mel muttered, ignoring his cheap shot as they once again started forward.

There was several moments of eery silence, then next to her Gyendal let out a sudden shout as he spun to face the emptiness behind them. She was just about to ask him what the problem was when he ducked and fired a blast of Magic at the empty mist.

"RUN!"

"What-?!"

Mel barely got the chance to finish her first word before Gyendal had grabbed her arm and taken off at a dead run, forcing her to either keep up or be dragged.

"There isn't anything there! Why are we running?!" Mel shouted as she was jerked around trees and under low hanging branches.

"Are you blind?! He's right there! We go up against an Angel of Death and we're signing the death warrant of ourselves and Aia! They were have supposed to have died out in the collapse of the caves on Ahriman!" Gyendal shouted back at her, throwing her sideways into a small pile of bushes as he spun and cast the Curse of Despair over thin air.

Mel stared wide eyed at the dark Mage who let out a shaking breath and dropped back against a tree.

"If we're going to have to go up against enemies like that-"

Mel snorted and he stopped, turning to glare at her as she stood and plucked ice off her coat.

"What enemies? You were attacking thin air, there wasn't anything there to fight."

The look on Gyendal's face made it very clear that he thought she had lost her mind and Mel rolled her eyes, taking a step towards him.

"YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE RAT!"

Mel spun with a strangled sound in the back of her throat as she faced the source of the harsh shout. A shape hulled over her like a nightmare come true, ugly and marked face leering down at her.

It was the massive man who had overseen the orphanage she had lived in as a child gave a cruel laugh, a sound that had haunted her for so many years after escaping the orphanage. He had died years ago, killed by several of the older teens at the orphanage after a beating gone to far, but his last words had haunted every single one of them.

He would see them again.

How was he here?! She had escaped him when she had left the orphanage and he had died! Was he sentenced here?! Fear swamped her and she leapt back and away, tripping and falling on her back as she scrabbled away. In that moment all logic left her, it was as if she had just reverted back to the terrified child she had been before. He raised the massive punishment stick in hand high over head and fear clamped down on Mel like chains, holding her immobile. Just waiting for the blow to fall.

The stick was just coming down when the air around her shimmered before a dark shield went up over her. Mel sucked in a startled breath and watched as the stick came down on the shield, both the stick and the orphan master wavering before dissipating like steam.

Mel let out a relieved breath, sitting up straight and gathering herself. He cheeks were slightly pink as her wits returned and she realized how foolish her actions were, cursing herself for her weakness.

"It's an illusion. This realm is just like the last one, playing with us by making these damn illusions." Mel hissed to herself, standing and glaring into the blackness around them.

"I would assume that was what I saw also." Gyendal commented, Mel nodding distractedly.

"So how are we supposed to know the difference between a illusion and a real attack, there's always the chance that these illusions are supposed to act as the cover for real monsters."

"If it kills us it's real." Gyendal offered, sardonic amusement in his tone.

"Oh thanks for that oh brilliant one! I never would have figured that one out on my own." Mel snapped, shooting him a black look that he returned.

They carefully edged onto the main worn path through, following the trodden down ground with careful steps. Every few minutes a new illusion would appear, Gyendal flinching or blasting with magic while Mel constantly found herself draining her Magic reserve with instinctive shields thrown up around herself.

If whatever inhabited this realm didn't kill her, the draining on her Magic would make her open for the kill for whatever came next.

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	19. Nightmare

Hello all!

I sincerely apologize for the late update, life has been kind of crazy for me lately but I'm back and with a new update to boot:D Hopefully you all enjoyed the last one and I hope this one will carry on the intensity I'm striving for. Reviews are always welcome:p

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Nightmare**

* * *

The illusions that struck seemed to come at random, but as their travels progressed so did the frequencies of the illusions. Mel and Gyendal were constantly reacting, protecting and attacking the illusions for fear of them for once being real.

Above them the grey sky began to darken, slowly beginning to turn black. Around them the mist began to slowly recede, taking the illusions with it until the entire layer around them was eerily calm.

"Should we be worried about this?" Mel questioned rhetorically, glancing around uneasily.

"Probably. However, this also presents another issue. It's going dark at a rapid rate and getting progressively harder to see more then a few feet in front of us. It would be wise for us to find some sort of shelter for the night so that we can get some sleep." Gyendal commented, gesturing off the "path" they were following towards the trees around them.

Mel nodded in agreement, veering off the path they were following into the trees despite the tugging in her gut in the other direction and searching through for somewhere they could set up camp.

"Mel, look here."

She turned to see Gyendal standing between two trees that had their upper branches interlocking, quickly making her way over as he stepped down into something. She quickly approached to see that he was standing at the mouth of some sort of half covering. She ventured over and studied the covering closely, it appeared to be an alcove of sorts that had been dug into the ground by someone.

"A shelter made by the last individuals coming through this layer perhaps?"

Mel glanced up when Gyendal spoke, giving a half nod in agreement before making her way down into the alcove of sorts.

"It seems big enough to fit us comfortably as well as a fire." Mel reported over her shoulder, sliding down inside and scooting over to the far side of the alcove as Gyendal lowered himself down on the other side.

They started a magic fire and ate in silence, watching as the light faded until it was gone all together. The layer was covered in an inky blackness, the light from the fire barely enough to light the inside of their alcove.

Mel was laying on her back and staring blankly up at the roof of their covering while nibbling halfheartedly on some bread when outside of their alcove the silence was broken by shouting. She bolted upright, bread dropped and forgotten as Gyendal stirred in his corner and leaned forwards from where he had propped himself against the side wall.

"Mel what-"

"Shhh." Mel hissed, sitting perfectly still as she strained her ears.

"HELP ME!"

Mel moved into a crouch, raising herself up as high as she could to see over the embankment that led up out of their partially underground hideaway. The sight that met her eyes as she gazed into the woods was like something pulled directly out of her worst fears.

It was Edward, thrown on the ground bloody and beaten. Over him stood Lydia who grinned down at Mel's friend, malicious glee and triumph in her eyes. She looked up at Mel, meeting her eyes and giving a cold laugh as Lydia lifted a large blade over her head.

Horror washed over Mel and she leapt forward, the intricacy of the illusion momentarily blinding Mel to reality as she attempted to scramble up the small embankment to stop Lydia.

"Stop!" A gruff voice shouted behind her, arms grabbing her and throwing her backwards.

She landed on her butt, sliding a half an inch backwards before being slammed against the wall by her shoulders.

"Whatever you're seeing is an illusion! We don't set foot outside this place until it's light out, if we get lured away into the forest we're as good as dead!" Gyendal snarled, holding Mel motionless as a choked howl echoed through into their alcove and Mel jerked in his hold.

"It's an illusion, I know. I know..." Mel mumbled under her breath, her heart squeezing painfully.

She felt his grip on her loosen when it became obvious that she wasn't going to try and bolt into the forest.

"What did you see?" He questioned, his voice quiet.

"Lydia killing Edward."

He let out a heavy sigh before leaning back and releasing her, moving back to his side of the alcove.

"Prepare yourself now. The things the illusions showed to us were things we feared or dreaded, images that would have drained us in our instinctive defence response. However they did not show us our worst fears, or the nightmares that haunt us in the night. That makes no sense after what we experienced in the last layer, the all immersing illusions. It seems that the layer was simply waiting until darkness fell to unleash the illusions that can lure us out of relative safety."

"Aw man, this is gonna suck so bad." Mel groaned, hunkering down and restarting her small meal.

They both waited in a tense silence, bracing themselves as they waited for the next illusion. Beside her Gyendal let out a hissed curse, pressing his head into his hands as his muscles twitched. Clearly it was his turn to fight, and whatever he was hearing was effecting him nearly as bad as it was her.

Mel gave a muffled groan around her bread.

This was gonna be a really long night.

* * *

In the few hours since the night had fallen Mel and Gyendal had gone from being on opposite sides of the alcove to being mere inches from each other. More times then Mel had cared to count one of them had surged forward, terror and instinct clouding their mind and forcing the other to yank them back from diving through the fire and out of their tiny corner of semi-safety.

For Mel it had been like nothing she could ever hope to describe, the invasion of her innermost thoughts that played out on a full colour screen in front of her. Mel's hands were buried in her hair, clutching the strands so tightly that it hurt. She could hear them, calling to her for help. The shrieks and wails of pain echoed around in her head, not going away but being constantly added too.

It was like a wave, it would swell and wash over her with all the torment it brought before stilling and giving her blessed moments of nothing. Then another wave would come and she would once again be assaulted by the illusions this cursed layer wove.

"Oh goddess, make this stop." She breathed, shuddering as the sickening sound of metal meeting bone penetrated her ears.

It was becoming increasingly harder to discern between reality and illusion, each illusion made the haze over her mind thicker. It was pushing everything she knew fully to the back of her mind and drowning her in all her nightmares come to life.

Desperation overcame her desire for personal space and without considering the potential consequences Mel reached over blindly, grabbing for Gyendal's arm to ground herself.

However Mel did not take into account that his arm would have moved from where it had been the last time she had been with it enough to make sure her companion was surviving. When her hand came down, it didn't come down on his arm.

It came down directly on his open hand.

"Irk!"

Mel attempted to jerk her hand away but before she could his larger one closed around hers, his grip tight.

Her head shot up and she looked over to where he sat, thrown by his unusual action. He shot her a sidelong glance, raising an eyebrow at her expression before another illusion seemed to hit him and a pained grimace formed on his face. His hand tightened around hers, almost painful with the force of his grip as he took his turn battling the illusions.

Mel felt herself relax slightly and turned her attention back to herself, bracing herself for the next illusion that she knew would be coming. He needed an anchor just as much as she did right now, Gyendal was no better off then her. If she was lucky, come morning they could both pretend that the moment of weakness for them both had never existed and go back to making each other's life as miserable as humanly possible.

She was pulled away from her idle thoughts as the voices started again. They called her name, pleading for her help and Mel's own grip tightened, her muscles tensing as she attempted to block out the illusion. But she couldn't do a thing, she couldn't help anyone. All she could do was watch, watch as Edward and Stella were ripped apart by creatures as they tried to come to her aid on her quest that they never should have died for. A vampire Galahad being staked while Te'ijal was held back by vampires she just couldn't match.

She felt like a monster just sitting there, like she was betraying her loved ones. It didn't matter that it was just illusions, it was getting into her head and playing with her mind.

"How long do you think this night is going to last." Gyendal hissed out next to her, fracturing her concentration and forcing her to focus on something other then the illusion.

"I...don't know. Hopefully these games they're playing with our nightmares will stop when night is over." Mel answered with some difficulty.

He grunted in agreement, Mel assuming that would be it to the stilted conversion.

"It's really not fair you know. Most of my worst nightmares came from centuries ago, my family and my experiences shortly after I was turned. I had nearly forgotten them until I arrived down here, then it brought everything to the forefront for this layer to easily pick from." Gyendal suddenly commented, sounding slightly sullen and so out of character that Mel would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so serious.

"What's the hardest of them to sit through? I'll share mine if you share yours." She questioned, grabbing on the chance to distract herself.

He was silent for several minutes before answering.

"After I was first turned Te'ijal and I were terrified. Vampires were the number one enemy of our village, we were taught that they were foul and disgusting. Even a murder condemned could be pardoned and hailed a hero for killing one. We couldn't go back, and our parents were dead which meant that we had no direction in our life. After we escaped the only other vampire in our town, the companion of the one that turned my sister and killed our parents I begged her to take us to Aveyond. Because of the training I had received in the art of magic I knew that the oracle and her priestesses lived there, I foolishly believed that they would be able to save Te'ijal and I since we were innocent despite being turned."

His face twisted with bitterness and resentment as he continued.

"We got there and you know what the oracle and her priestesses did? They condemned us, calling us filthy creatures when they saw the fangs and bite scars on our neck. They hit us in the back with their staffs and when I hissed at one over my shoulder when they hit my back a priestess flung holy water at me. I was a child, I was twelve years old and those "holy protectors" willingly attempted to kill me. I still have the burn mark from the few drops that managed to land on me." Gyendal moved his cloak aside and pulled down his tunic covering the back of his shoulder, revealing a almost silvery scar.

He was forced to stop as he was once again pulled into an illusion, Mel struggling against her own minutes later. Once they had recovered, Gyendal started again.

"Several variations of that trip have cropped up since it went dark, all of them ending with death. The first was just the trio ending with losing my sister to her stupidly diving in front to protect me, then my parents and vampires I would spend time with from the council, as well as...some others. Always interspersed throughout other fears come to life."

"And it's always your fault, in the visions I mean." Mel added, her tone not questioning and Gyendal shrugged. "I kinda hate to admit what I've been seeing, since it's so similar to yours that it's stupid and the idea of having anything remotely like you is positively nauseating."

Her grumble made him snort and Mel gave a halfhearted roll of her eyes as she forcibly drowned out the illusion just outside. The alcove they were in was protected by some sort of magic, although near the beginning when they had tried to find out by what neither of them had been able to place the enchantments used. Not that it mattered, the important thing is that the illusions never seemed to enter the alcove to drive them out of it.

"I'm watching all the people that ever meant something to me die, willingly following me on my quests and then losing everything. Their significant others, suffering through both physical and emotional pain before dying. At the beginning they were killed by enemies but now... every few visions I'm watching myself kill the people I love with my own bare hands." She released a hard and angry laugh. "It's amazing, my fears can't just be losing the people that mean the world to me. I have to kill them myself, I was so terrified that I would give in to that Prophecy and be driven to murder the only ones who I could remember ever having stood by my side."

She let out a heavy sigh and next to her she felt Gyendal shift.

"It's fascinating how much we take upon ourselves, fear and guilt over things that never actually happened. We do so much to those around us, out of desperation to protect or out of anger and hurt because of emotional rifts." He gave a self depreciating laugh. "It never fails that when everything is stripped back or taken away, be it the walls that we've built or a hunger for a power that we can no longer grasp that these are the fears that most of us share. The fear of losing those we love because of our own actions."

* * *

Once morning arrived the two of them rose, utterly and completely exhausted from the tiny amounts of sleep they had gotten the night before. The nightmare visions faded the lighter it became until it looked just like it had the day before, the momentary freedom bringing a peace that Mel welcomed with open arms.

"Well we've seen the fears and negative things that we've already lived, we saw those yesterday. Last night we saw the fears that we didn't live, I wonder what happens next." Mel mused as they walked, rubbing her already frozen hands together before stuffing them into her pocket.

"Yes well as interesting as the answer might have been I'd rather not know if it's all the same to you." Gyendal muttered.

Mel ignored him, simply focusing on the path they were following.

"What in the-...Mel, look over there."

Mel glanced to see him pointing in the far direction and turned, studying the Misty wooded area. When she saw what he was pointing at however, her jaw dropped.

"Is that...us?!" She gasped, staring in shock at the two forms standing in the trees staring back.

It was, but at the same time the two forms couldn't have been more different. That Gyendal wasn't a tired human Mage, he was a vampire and the malevolent glint in his eyes made it clear that he was still as power hungry as he had been before the whole Demon Realm situation. His garb now black with a red coat, and a diadem upon his head. That Mel was also different, wearing a black dress and crown upon her head with the staff of Destiny gripped tightly in one hand.

"...Queen of Aia..."

The whispered words made her insides twist and she recoiled, her gaze flicking between the Gyendal she was travelling with and the duo in the trees.

"Gyendal...?" She said slowly, eyeing the other version of them who smiled coldly and took a step forward.

"We're both seeing this, so I highly doubt this is one of the layers illusions. Perhaps now would be a good time to retreat." Gyendal said calmly, although the look in his eyes was anything but calm.

Mel gave a nod and they both began to back down the path, away from the "shadow" Mel and Gyendal. But the dark duo only laughed, the air around them twisting as they vanished and reappeared mere feet away.

"You cannot run this time, you will never be able to outrun yourself." They intoned together, the hairs on the back of Mel's neck standing straight up.

With those words the shadow versions of them attacked, Mel finding herself on the defensive as Dark-Her swung the staff of Destiny, forcing Mel to throw up a magic shield and tap her bracelet to summon her orb staff.

"What the hell are you?!" Mel demanded angrily as she blasted Dark-Her with a spell before landing a blow with her staff.

"Who do you think I am? I'm you." Dark-Her snorted, countering with the exact same spell Mel had just used against her. "I'm the version that you always feared becoming, I'm the person that will do whatever it takes to achieve her goals and the one that isn't bound by fear of hurting people."

Mel was forced to dodge as the Dark-Her brought the Staff of Destiny down in a powerful crosscut, attempting to knock Dark-Her's feet out from under her with Mel's staff.

She chanced a glance behind her to see Gyendal locked in a heated battle with his own dark version, the movements so swift and graceful that it was nearly impossible to follow.

"I'm not going to be beat by _myself_!" Mel snapped, blasting Dark-Her with Dragon Bane.

Dark-Her only snorted, opening her arms and absorbing the magic into herself without a hint of damage.

"You cannot overpower me Mel, I know everything you're going to do as you do it. We are one and the same, I am simply the darker side of who you are."

Mel snarled and whipped her staff, the metal clanging against metal as Dark-Her blocked her strike. They danced in and out of contact, each strike more violent then the last.

"You are not me! I would have never become what you are!" Mel snarled, her manoeuvres near-reckless.

Dark-Her laughed coldly.

"Oh I am you, I'm that dark voice that would speak in the back of your mind asking if it would really be that bad to just give into the Prophecy. I'm the part of you who always craved something more then just existing, the part of you who was drawn to power. I'm the part of you that revels in the darkness of magic, the part of you who can go toe to toe with the most powerful living Dark Mage and feels nothing but adrenalin while behind you your friends act in fear."

With each statement that Dark-Her made, she would strike out at Mel and force her further back. She tried to fight, but it was like all the training and strength she had was zapped with every moment longer she spent battling every blow Mel managed to land, Dark-Her would land two. Slowly but surely Mel found herself retreating, attempting to fight off Dark-Her just long enough to escape.

"You know what I say is true. Even now you have come face to face with situations that you just know you should fear but instead excitement fills you and you find yourself rising to the challenge, reaching out farther and striking out harder. You will never be free of me, you cannot be. Yet you still refuse to accept it."

Mel felt herself falter as Dark-Her's words hit home and the shadow version facing her took advantage, striking out and slamming Mel's chest with a booted foot. Mel lost her balance, stumbling back as Shadow-Her pounced and pinned Mel to the ground with the wicked point of the Staff of Destiny pointed down at Mel's heart.

"Unfortunately for you, I might be a manifestation of you but I am not _you_ therefore I do not feel the need to save you. Once you leave this Realm I will cease to exist in this reality, you dying here will not affect me. You've failed the test, and now you will pay the ultimate prize."

Panic filled Mel and she repeatedly blasted Dark-Her with magic, struggling vainly under the unyielding grip of Dark-Her. Her mind spun out of control, grabbing desperately for an answer.

Failed the test...

"YOU NEED TO ACCEPT HER!" Gyendal suddenly roared, Mel jerking to see that he had Dark-Him slammed against a tree. "We have to accept them as part of us!"

Mel whipped back to face Dark-Her and reached out, grabbing onto Dark-Her's arm and closing her eyes. Inside her mind memories of situations and sensations that filled her with a dark excitement and adrenaline despite knowing that no one would have ever understood that reaction began to surface. Those memories and sensations, Mel would always shove them down and pretend that they had never happened, this time however she simply allowed them to flood her mind as she forced herself to accept the truth.

The arm in her grip went cold, wavering slightly and Dark-Her let out a muffled snort.

"Good save, accepting me as part of you just in the nick of time. I suppose you passed the test."

Dark-Her pulled free of Mel's grip, standing straight and stepping back several feet until she was shoulder to shoulder with Dark-Gyendal.

"Good luck surviving what comes next." Dark-Gyendal sneered, he and Dark-Her beginning to dissolve from the bottom up until all that was left was mist.

Mel lay motionless on the ground for several minutes before pushing herself upright with a long sigh of relief. Gyendal came over, offering his hand which she accepted and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

"It seems that our little skirmish has revealed the next portal." He commented, pointing behind him.

Mel stepped back, peering into the woods where the dark-duo had first appeared to see that a path had opened. Several feet into the frozen and dead forest another arch stood, the portal inside radiating a blood red light.

They nearly ran towards the portal, both beyond glad to be out of the second layer to play with their minds. The closer they got, the hotter it became. It was like the portal radiated it's own heat, the ice on the trees all around completely gone and some of the trees even slightly blackened.

"Goodbye Tristita." Mel as they stepped up to the portal.

"Hello Ira." Gyendal added behind her, his words blown away by the hot wind as with a deep breath they stepped into the next layer.

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored while I continue the story.


	20. Unknown Horrors

Hello all!

We are getting closer to the end of this story! This was a harder chapter to write, just because until the end there isn't much humour. It's setting the mood for the final layer which comes next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Unknown Horrors**

* * *

The ground was a dark burgundy, small cracks in the hard rocky substance serving as vents for steam. Mel barely waited mere minutes before she was yanking off her jacket and over-shirt that she had retrieved for the previous layers to reveal the white croptop that had been her constant companion through all previous quests on Aia.

She shot quick glance at Gyendal who had shed his tunic and cloak in favour of surviving the heat in just his undershirt, both of them were already sweating.

"How ironic, the dead and cold layer right next to the layer that slowly barbecues you." Mel muttered as they started forward.

In front of them was something that looked like a mountain, it reached up what looked like miles above them with no end in site.

"Well I hope you're good a mountain climbing, because that's exactly what we're about to do." Gyendal gruffly announced, pointing up.

"Never been so glad I learned how to do this under Gray's field courses before in my life." Mel admitted, approaching the mountain and finding secure handholds as she began her careful ascent.

She and Gyendal climbed for hours, taking small breaks to drink from the waterflasks they had stored in their magic pockets before starting again. It was about as far from a pleasant experience scaling the mountain as it could get and when the top finally became obvious Mel felt a rush of relief. They reached the top quickly, pulling themselves up and onto the ledge.

"Uh, I have a bit of a bad feeling about this." Mel said slowly, looking straight ahead with apprehension.

In front of them several feet away was a massive gunmetal grey fence, jagged spikes at the top. Directly across from where she and Gyendal were standing was a large gate, twisted metal and rattling chains.

"I don't even want to see what's on the other side." Gyendal sighed, resignation clear on his expression as they approached the gate, unable to see what lay beyond but more then aware of the screams that echoed through.

Mel reached out to touch the gate, making a soft noise of realization when her hand went though.

"Looks like we don't have to worry about opening the gate to get through." Mel observed, stepping through next to Gyendal.

The gate was not an illusion like the previous layers had, it felt insubstantial at first but as she passed through she felt the wholly unnerving sensation of the ghostly gate moving through her body.

When they stepped out on the other side however, the sensation of the gate was long forgotten.

"Great godddess!" Mel gasped, her eyes nearly doubling in size as she took in what lay before them.

It was a massacre. Hundreds upon hundreds of shimmering spirits attacked each other, no one fighting on a clear side as creatures of all species, genders and appearances ruthlessly struck each other down. Mel had never seen anything like what lay before them, she could hardly believe it was even happening despite seeing it in front of her.

Instinctively she moved to back away only to find her back pressed against metal. She wheeled to face behind her and stared at the gate they had just come through, pressing her hand against it and pushing what now felt like an immovable mountain.

"What is this?" She slowly asked, staying flat against the gate.

Next to her Gyendal reached into his Magic pocket, withdrawing a large knife that's blade was blacker then the night with a deep scarlet leather handle. He held it in front of him protectively and Mel tightened her grip on her staff.

"You know those priests who always talk about those that die who are truly evil will not get off free because they go to a place of eternal suffering? Well, welcome to hell. Even those that people would see as "villains" do not always get here, you have to have literally no love or compassion left in your heart for a single soul on Aia. This is the worst of the worst in front of you, and it seems that we have arrived in their punishment waiting room."

Gyendal's words made Mel's heart drop through her shoes. Neither of them had enough magic left in their reserve to make it through here unscathed. All they had to replenish themselves was the Elixir and the Auquifolium Extora, both of which it would be a complete waste to use simply to top them up magically and physically when they weren't nearly drained.

"We're going to have to be very careful, there are plenty of rock formations and the uneven ground provides place to hide up or provide a small amount of protection." Gyendal said, pointing around them at the various hiding and protected places.

Mel nodded and the two of them tensed in preparation, still having yet to be noticed by the battling souls. With a nod the two of them started forward, dodging around battling souls and ducking behind barriers to protect themselves.

"Incoming!" Mel yelled as several fighting spirits noticed them and ganged up, lunging and attacking.

Instantly they were leaping into combat, Mel alternating between magic and using her staff while next to her Gyendal didn't even bother using his magic as he slashed and and disintegrated spirits with his knife.

They finished quickly and turned to start back on their path, groaning in tandem when it became clear that they had officially caught the attention of more of the Ira inhabitants.

It felt like they would get only a mile at max before being attacked againt, the souls battling fiercely and slowly but surely draining Mel and Gyendal.

Off to their right there was a loud roar as a gang of souls advanced, waving their weapons and shouting in various different languages.

"Oh come on." Mel hissed, readying herself as the souls descended upon them.

She spun, blasting the souls that encircled her with Dragon Bane, then twisted her wrist to perform a manoeuvre with her staff that turned several of the souls back to dust before attacking the closest two left. Behind her she heart grunts and hisses but ignored, focusing on her own battle. She glanced up quickly when she was given a second of breathing room, and promptly cursed when she saw a second and larger wave barreling down on them.

"Alright, let's do this." Mel hissed, bracing her feet and holding her staff at the ready.

As they began to attack she began to strike and dodge, zero mercy in her actions as she killed as many souls as she could reach. She was focused fully on her movements as she destroyed their enemies, finding herself overwhelmed as souls swamped her. Behind her there was a rumble and Mel spun, blasting the closest souls back as she tried to find the source of the disturbance.

Her eyes fell on Gyendal who stood on a slightly elevated plane, loose hairs waving around his face, his expression positively murderous as he whirled and fought. It was like most of the spirits had completely bypassed her and were swarming Gyendal. His movements started to slow, then with a guttural shout he flung his hands that were glowing with power out and with a powerful explosion vaporized nearly all the spirits against them.

Elation filled her at the prospect of ending the battle, only for seconds later that feeling to be drowned out by dread as Gyendal suddenly went ashen and swayed on his feet. Mel opened her mouth to call to her companion when his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he collapsed, his blade falling out of his hand and bouncing away on the hardened ground.

"NO!"

Mel lunged towards him, easily killing the remaining spirits as she dropped down next to Gyendal. His chest was still, the usual rising and falling with his breathing gone. She fought off a sudden panic as she fumbled for a pulse, icy cold terror washing over her when she could feel nothing.

She summoned the Magic pocket and shoved her hand in, grasping desperately for the package that the Shadow Oracle had given them. Ripping it open she snatched up a cassia leaf, forcing his mouth open and shoving it inside as she waited on baited breath for the leaf to pull him back from the border between life and death.

Five seconds passed.

Ten seconds passed.

Thirty seconds passed.

A minute passed and Gyendal was just as dead as he had been when she force-fed him the leaf.

"Come on, _come on_! You don't get to die on me like this, I can't get out of this hellhole on my own power!" Mel shouted, her whole body was shaking with adrenaline and fear as she turned to see passing souls taking notice of unusual activity behind the rock.

She was past panic by then and she desperately grabbed for the remaining leaves, praying under her breath to the goddess as she crunched them in her hand and crammed them down his throat.

Suddenly Gyendal's body convulsed, the dark Mage heaving in a great gasp and beginning to coughing violently on the crushed leaves. Mel quickly rolled him onto his side as he coughed up the slimy green clump, gasping hard. Once she was sure he was finished she settled him onto his back, waiting for him to recover.

Moments later his black lashes fluttered before his eyes flew open, wide and confused until his memories of what had taken place came back to him.

"I died." He croaked out, allowing Mel to help him sit up.

"Yeah no kidding." Mel snapped, her body still undergoing the effects of the adrenaline shot she had received with his unexpected death.

She reached over to the package that lay next to her, grasping both an Aqualiform Extora and an Elixir. Uncapping the Aqualiform Extora she helped him drink that, relieved to see that the layer didn't prevent the potion from working perfectly and completely bringing him back to full health. She left him with the Elixir to take care of and stood, packaging up her things and ignoring his raised brow as he studied her jerky movements.

"We need to go, the skirmish over here has drawn too much attention and I wasn't able to move you to a safer place after you croaked." She said snappishly, putting away the remainder of the package from the Shadow Oracle and gazing out past the rock to map out their next course of action.

She heard Gyendal approach but nearly jumped out of her skin when a cool hand settled on her forearm, turning her to face him before raising her arm and sliding down to flip her hand up. She twitched and attempted to pull free but Gyendal ignored her attempts, merely tightening his grip as he placed a full Elixir and the Auquifolium Extora that was clearly from his own pack since hers were gone now into her open hand. He smiled ever so slightly as he closed her hand carefully around the two vials and released her, Mel recoiling back both unnerved and creeped out by his actions.

He had smiled. Why the hell was he smiling at her?! He never smiled, he smirked and mocked! And what was with his weird gentle grasp and handing her his stuff?!

"I scared you when I died." He said, his words not a question.

"Don't flatter yourself, I was only worried about how I was supposed to get through Ira and Tartarus to the demon king alone." Mel scoffed, shooting him a foul look.

The corners of his mouth twitched and he raised one brow, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I never said is was for anything otherwise. Why so defensive?"

She snorted and rolled her eyes, muttering some choice words under her breath as she popped the corks off both vials and downed the contents together. Her whole body went numb and then tingled like she had just been struck by lighting before the sensations went away and she felt fully rested and refreshed for the first time in she couldn't remember how long.

He patted her shoulder mockingly as if to console her on her fail before striding past her, leaving Mel to glower angrily at the dark haired male.

Goddess he ticked her off.

* * *

They finally reached the end of the "waiting zone" as Gyendal had called it after an excessive amount of battles and stupid, loud souls. She had been hoping that since the next part was dedicated to punishing the souls it would be easier to get through with no battles and was almost in a weird way looking forward to gettting there.

But once they reached the punishment zone and she saw what lied within... she had never wished more that she could instead go through something they had already experienced in the previous layers. The sight that met her eyes was nothing like she could have prepared herself for in all the layers they had been through so far.

"I never-...Goddess I think I'm going to be sick." Gyendal cut off as he was forced to turn away, gagging as the stench of rotting flesh reached their noses.

Mel was past being able to process what she was seeing, her eyes were blank as she struggled to block out the sight of the layer in front of her.

Words couldn't describe what she was seeing. People being tortured, using methods so twisted and evil that no place on Aia could have ever began to come close to what she was witnessing in that moment.

She could smell the different venoms and poisons that were being used on some of the inhabitants, some sickly sweet and others a putrid burn, all of them assaulting her nose. The clang of metal against metal, the sheik of blades being drawn or falling, screams and howls that all piled on top of the others to create a deafening cacophony.

"I can't walk thought that." Mel whispered, shaking her head as she plastered a hand to her mouth.

"We have to. There's no other way to get through." Gyendal said, straightening and smearing the back of his hand over his mouth.

"Did you actually get sick?"

"No. I almost wish I had though. I can taste the death in the air."

They stepped further into the punishment zone, Mel forcing herself to focus intently on the opposite horizon and nowhere else. Every peek she stupidly took of her surroundings only made the nausea and revolting of her stomach worse.

They passed a soul bound in chains that was attempting to escape only for the stains to snap taut and halt the souls escape, a scaly red creature that laughed cruelly as he grabbed the chains and began to drag the man backwards in the direction he had just fled.

A pathetic sounding noise escaped Mel as she witnessed that and what happened next, she never reacted as Gyendal placed a hand on her shoulder and urged her on.

"Don't watch." He said, voice strained.

She nodded mutely, continuing down the path layed out for them through the revolting sights. The screams were haunting and disturbing, but the further they got inside the more Mel began to hear another sound that tormented her far more.

There were spirits who would be given breaks that lasted maybe a minute as it was prepared for the next round of whatever they were being punished by. The spirits would look over at a screaming neighbour... and they would laugh. They were taking pleasure in the suffering from others, even as they went though their own hell they were laughing.

That realization made her feel sicker then even witnessing what was going on. That these people would get pleasure out of their companions misery and torment.

They trudged through silently, the further they got into that zone the warmer the wind became. Their travels were silent as they attempted to block out their surroundings, just trying to get through that zone.

It felt like weeks before the end became visible, a large stone wall at the far end that clearly served as a border between the punishment zone and whatever came after.

"Do you think that the portal is just beyond that?" Mel questioned as they picked up the pace, both eager to get out of there.

"I doubt it, this zone wasn't near torturous enough for that." Gyendal sneered.

They stepped up to the brick border, touching it to find that it operated the same as the gate at the enterance to Ira.

"It's gonna go solid behind us again, I am so not looking forward to whatever is on the other side." Mel groaned.

They exchanged a look of misery before taking deep breaths and stepping through.

"Oh crap."

Mel's jaw hung agape as she stared at their next challenge.

"It's a lake of lava." She said stupidly, staring down past the thin ledge they were standing on.

It was dizzying, the sheer size of the drop. Jagged cliff lined the stone wall, hanging over a death sentence made of boiling molten lava. At the far end of the wall on their side of the drop there was a hole, the creatures that oversaw the torturing in the punishment zone stepping through and tossing souls down into the lake. Below monsters would leap out of the lava, opening their massive gaping maws and swallowing some of the souls while others fell into the lava, sinking below the fiery waves never to be seen again.

"This is the final stop for the souls." Gyendal informed her darkly. "Once they have served their sentence they are thrown into the lava lake below to be fully and completely eradicated from Aia. You fall in there and there is no afterlife, this is the only place where death really would be the end."

Mel shuddered, looking away from the gaping pit beneath them. Right in front of where she and Gyendal stood there was a ledge that jutted out two massive stone pillars on either side of the ledge, and between those two pillars was the first board of the rope bridge that spanned from their side of the lava lake to the other.

"Alright, how are we going to do this?" Mel asked her voice hard as she attempted to quell the fear.

"I will go first. The thick black smoke coming off the vents on the other side would hide any creatures coming after us and my instinct with magic is far more attuned then yours is at this point. I'll be more likely to strike accurately and deadly should something attack." Gyendal said, stepping past Mel and walking up to the entrance to the bridge.

He took a deep breath and with a tight grip on the ropes on either side he stepped out onto the first board. When it held his weight he took several more steps forward, gesturing over his shoulder for Mel to follow once it was established that the bridge wasn't going to disintegrate under their fingers. The first step she took onto the bridge was the hardest, every part of her brain screaming at her not to be a moron and trust her life to a bridge that looked frayed and singed.

"Test each board before setting your full weight on it, I could potentially weaken one with my weight." Gyendal called back, Mel grunting in acknowledgment as they made their careful way forward.

The bridge spanned for at least a mile, swaying with their movement which caused the fibres of the rope to creak. Every step she took further out onto the bridge the more her thundering heart threatened to beat out of her chest.

Just as her foot set down on a board she felt a crack and the wood give way under her.

"AHHH!"

Mel scrambled back, her grip on the rope railings white knuckled as her chest heaved with her panicked breathing.

"Mel!"

She stared through the now open slot as the wood spiralled down through the air towards the lake.

"I almost fell." She said numbly.

She took a cleansing breath, then very deliberately stepped over the hole in the bridge, meeting Gyendal's eyes and giving a short nod to show that she was fine to continue.

"Be careful. Don't die on me now so close to the end." Gyendal threw out before starting forward again.

Mel shot a black look at his back but reluctantly followed, each step careful and her heart momentarily jumping into her throat every time she stepped down on a new board.

Determinedly she set her eyes on the far side of the chasm, her gaze fixed on the terrain that she could just see over her companions broad shoulders.

Below them she could see creatures leaping out of the lava and diving back down inside. All along the walls of the chasm below were large holes, creatures flying out of them. Clearly monsters nested in those holes, the thought rather unappealing when she considered how vulnerable they were should one decide that they looked edible.

She honestly had no idea how much time passed as they slowly but surely crossed the bridge, it all blended into the background as they focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Gyendal had his own moment with nearly falling through a hole in the bridge. Finally, finally, the end became near and Mel's heart lifted as with every step closer to solid ground.

In front of her Gyendal cursed when the heel of his boot created a hole in one of the boards, not breaking but instead halting his movement as he attempted to pull his well-stuck boot free without shaking the bridge or breaking his other board.

Mel was about to offer her help when the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood straight up. She glanced to the left where nothing could be seen, but upon glancing to her right she felt the blood drain out of her face.

It was a massive dragon-like creature from one of the holes in the wall, and it was diving straight for Gyendal. He sensed it seconds later and as if in slow motion turned to face it, boot still stuck.

"DUCK!" Mel shouted, firing a blast of magic at the creature and forcing it to dodge and delay it's attack.

In the precious extra seconds before they both became lunch Mel lunged forward, tackling Gyendal and sending them both flying off the bridge onto the solid ground where they skidded several feet backwards away from the bridge upon impact.

The beast dived them moments later, only to slam headfirst into an originally unnoticed magical barrier that lined the entire ledge on this side of the cavern. Mel pushed herself upright and twisted to look over her shoulder wide eyed as the creature fell backwards.

"Thank goddess." She breathed as it vanished from sight.

She stared behind them for several minutes, watching guardedly as creatures neared the barrier only to veer away when the Magic sparked at them. Mel left her breathing slow as relief washed over her, at least they didn't have to fear dying from those creatures.

Her all encompassing relief was pleasant while it lasted...especially since seconds later there was a low chuckle that echoed from below her that brought her back to reality immediately.

"As interesting as this situation may be, I do believe that we have a portal we should be starting for."

Mel turned back to look in the direction her body was facing and promptly froze, her mind processing the position she was currently in.

She was kneeling on her hands and knees above Gyendal who had taken the brunt of the impact from their crashland on the ground, hands on either side of his head as he lay on the ground below her. She became uncomfortably aware of the fact that more then likely during their landing a hand had found it's way to her back and the other to her waist to steady her.

Her eyes nearly tripled in size as they met his green ones that danced with mirth as she shoved herself away with a string of profanities, each one more vulgar then the last.

"Shut up! We nearly died, you should have better things to do with your time then make jokes about the fact that I fell on you while saving your life!" Mel yelled, feeling her whole face heat up.

Gyendal smirked at her, expression wicked as he stood.

"I'm not the one making a big deal out of it, I simply observed that we should get going."

"Yeah well you didn't have to touch me while you were going about doing that." Mel sneered, stalking away.

She heard him snicker before catching up with her and as they ventured into the thick smoke the humour quickly faded. Both of them falling serious as they began to search for the portal.

"How do you think we're supposed to find it in this smoke?" Mel questioned quietly, glancing around them.

"Probably by-..." He cut off and Mel stopped to look at him, only to see him staring off to his far right.

She moved to look past him and found herself pausing as well, taking in the portal to their final destination.

"Holy..." Mel breathed, staring at the massive archway.

All the others had been large and stone, a simple arch with a portal inside. But this one...

The portal to Tartarus could never have been mistaken for anything other then the doorway to the home of the Demon king. The arch was nearly twice the size of the other archways, massive stone horns having been formed to lead effortlessly off the top of the arch. Between the horns was a suspended disk made of stone with an elaborate and ancient symbol chiseled into it's face. Glowing runes lined the entire archway, pulsing with a light and magical essence of their own. Inside of the archway was a portal, vibrant jewel tones churning together with shades of black and grey to create an opalescent effect.

"That's the last step of the journey through the layers." Gyendal murmured next to her, sounding as awed as she was.

Mel nodded, the two of them slowly approaching the portal until they came to a stop mere feet in front of it.

"Are you ready?" She asked, knowing that they had no other choice but to go forward but feeling compelled to ask anyway.

"Yes."

Then in a move so utterly uncharacteristic and utterly weird, Gyendal held out a hand to her.

There was nothing humorous about this gesture like there had been earlier when they had gotten off the bridge. The weight of what they were about to do had fully hit Mel and as she stared down at her once-enemies offered hand she realized the full meaning behind his seemingly simple gesture.

He wasn't just asking her to step through the portal with him. He was asking if she was willing to trust him enough to take on whatever laid on the other side of that portal as a team. He was asking if she was willing to fully put her mistrust behind her.

She met his gaze and released a long breath, reaching out and placing her hand firmly on his.

He gave a short nod, his shoulders relaxing slightly. This wasn't just a step for her, this was a necessity if they wanted to survive to the end of this.

They turned to face the portal, and then together they stepped through.

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	21. Destruction

Hello all!

We have finally reached the climax of the plot in this chapter, I can't say anymore at risk of spoiling the events that take place but I do hope that this will meet expectation:)

Strongly strongly reccomend listening to Open Your Eyes by Jules Bomley, it's the most fitting song to this chapter I could almost claim it was made for it;)

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Destruction**

* * *

Honestly, Mel wasn't sure what she had expected when she stepped through into the portal. A fiery throne room, screaming demons roaming the room around a throne.

What they stepped out onto instead, was a dull grey cobblestone path that wove through rocky terrain and scrub bushes. Behind them towering up above everything was a mountain cliff face, stabbing into the sky with black peaks.

"I feel like if we take a step forward something is going to explode." Mel finally admitted.

Gyendal snorted.

"As do I. If we ever get out of this mess alive we are more then likely going to be the most paranoid mages in existence."

Mel smirked slightly, taking a hesitant step forward before relaxing slightly. She pulled her hand free of her companions grip once they were both on smooth footing and slowly but surely began to venture forward. They walked for close to half an hour before around them things began to darken, night falling over the final layer.

Exhausted and relieved they pulled themselves several feet up the mountain they still walked next to, finding a niche in the face that would fit them comfortably. Mel settled herself down on one side with a heavy sigh, Gyendal squeezing in next to her.

She watched as night covered the layer like a blanket, a cool breeze blowing through. If she focused hard enough she could almost pretend that they were on Aia, there was no smell of fire or sulphur on the wind only fresh and clean. A small trembling smile flitted across Mel's lips.

"We're going to die here, trying to stop my disaster, aren't we?"

Gyendal shifted next to her, shoulder pressing against hers.

"If we don't then maybe for once the fates aren't playing us as their toys."

Mel laughed, the sound weak. She slowly turned to face him, her blue eyes meeting his calm green ones and she gave a slight shake of her head.

"I don't know if I want to survive this." She said quietly, voicing thoughts that had been plaguing her all along their hurried quest. "The idea of being trapped in the demon realm for eternity...I don't know if I can handle that."

He raised a brow and Mel snorted, looking away. He probably thought her thoughts were stupid, they had survived all the layers so far. If they could handle that then living in Genesis for eternity would be a piece of cake.

"Neither do I. After all this, after everything I've been through before here and now, to be trapped here for the rest of my immortal life is worse then any prison sentence."

Mel nodded, gazing blankly ahread before giving herself a brisk shake. She reached into the Magic pocket, her hand shimmering and flashing until she pulled it back with a cloth wrapped bundle. Setting it down on her lap she pulled it loose and laid it open, revealing her slate pieces. Reaching down she picked the first two up, looking between them silently as she recalled those moments once again.

A hand reached under her arms, grasping the third and final piece of slate from her lap and pulling it over to study. Mel tensed, placing the pieces in her hand back down gently before turning to watch with narrowed eyes as he studied the slate depiction of the Death Orb quest.

"Why did you do that?"

He glanced up at her questioningly and she gestured down at their picture on the slate.

"You flirted and tried to win me over for your own purposes, I get that. But why did you bother to take it that far? You hated me, and yet you were the one that pulled me over while I was still awake. Why did you bother? It's not like those actions did anything to further your goal, and I'm hardly a physical person so it's not like I went out of my way to seek that kind of thing out. Why would you tolerate such close physical contact, letting me fall asleep against you like that? Not to mention that when I woke up that morning in that exact same position you were sleeping just as soundly."

Mel waited expectantly, curious about the full extent of his grand nefarious plan. Before this, even thinking about it was hard. But it was like this whole quest had deadened that for her, either that or she was just to exhausted to care.

Gyendal stared at her for a moment before abruptly reaching over to place the slate on the top of her stack and rewrap it for her. She blink, taken aback but accepting the now wrapped bundle and placing it back in her Magic pocket.

"What-"

"Go to sleep. We need to be well rested for whatever comes in the morning."

His tone was curt and his jaw was set as he turned away, watching out of the niche. Mel stared at him for several minutes, puzzled and mildly irritated by his reaction before heaving a sigh and closing her eyes. She began to drift as she pictured her friends, her favourite places that she had found in their travels of Aia, the happiest moments in their travels. Her stupid fights with Edward over the proper way to pronounce a word, her heart to heart moments with Stella, the nights spent hearing all about the great Rhen Pendragon and who she really way outside of the legends.

As she drifted she never noticed as her hand tipped sideways to rest on someone else's shoulder, and as she was pulled under by the wave of sleep she never even registered as she shoulder was shifted down to allow her a more comfortable headrest.

* * *

"Mel! Get up!"

Mel bolted awake and was instantly reaching for her staff as Gyendal shook her by both shoulders to wake her.

"Wha-?"

She shifted her foot, then gave a sharp gasp as her foot lifted off the ground slowly as if suctioned down. Her head snapped down to stare at the black ooze that was slowly creeping up their little niche.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Mel nearly leapt over the ooze, scrambling out of the niche on Gyendal's heels. They managed to get out without injuring themselves or each other but there progress was soon halted as they found themselves facing the direction of the portal they had entered through, becoming the first to see something infinity more terrifying.

The black ooze poured out of the the portal and before their very eyes a massive black appendage reached through the portal, grabbing onto the side of the portal.

"T-That's a hand." Mel whispered, stumbling back as her stomach dropped.

A malevolent laugh echoed out from the portal and as panic washed over them Mel and Gyendal spun, sprinting away down the path as the sound of the portal being ripped and bent chased them.

"We have as long as it takes for that demon to get out of the portal." Gyendal snapped, catching Mel's arm to steady her for a moment before releasing her as the black haired woman tripped slightly on the uneaten ground.

Stark terror drove both of them, thunderous noises echoing across the layer as the sky above became black with clouds and red lighting forked across the sky above the portal. They followed the path as quickly as possible, glancing behind them to see a massive grey humanoid figure stick it's head through alongside the one arm. Mel didn't know she was capable of achieving speeds so high, her chest pumping so hard that she could feel it through her whole body.

"There!" Mel suddenly shouted out, pointing towards a massive open gateway in the distance. Massive stone walls with intricate designs chiseled into it's face stretched on either side for miles.

The closer they got, the more clear it became what lay beyond the gates. It was a city, black and grey stone buildings towering above the wall and creatures milling about near the gate. They put on an extra burst of speed, bursting in through the gateway just as a tall dark haired man with deathly pale skin rushed to meet them.

"New arrivals?! What in the name of Aia's realms did you bring through with you?!" The man barked, his voice thick with a strange accent and colder then any other tone Mel had heard in her life.

"It's the demon of the Destiny Staff, the staff was broken and the demon was freed. We were sent ahead to the Demon King, but we're too late." Mel gasped out, turning back to gesture frantically at the demon that could be visibly seen towering above the forest and the mountains all around. It had finally gotten through, letting out a terrible roar as it began forward.

The man paled, spinning back to face a woman with an unusually blue skin tone, her dress appearing almost to be made of ice. The woman had been in deep discussion with a blond man in blue armour when the main in front of them barked out.

"INDRA! AGAS! Send for the others immediately and prepare to battle! We must hold off the demon as long as it takes for these young ones to get to the king, he is too deep in his palace to register what is taking place here and we cannot hold the demon off long enough with one of us missing to do the job themselves!"

Both of the individuals he spoke too nodded before vanishing with a flash.

"Are you insane?! You cannot stop the demon with a few mages and a glorified warrior! The Shadow Oracle herself told us that no one other then the Demon King could face him last time!" Gyendal snarled, eyes wild as he stabbed a finger in the Demons direction.

The man in front of them smirked slightly, red eyes glittering as he opened one hand and summoned a ball of crackling black and purple energy. The ball condensed in his hand and the man reared back before hurling the Magic as high as he could. Mel and Gyendal watched wide eyed as the Magic picked up speed until it was nearly a blur, unseen until it collided with the demon in a fiery explosion accompanied by a furious howl.

"Yes, well last time we Daeva were not alive. Things have changed, we will hold them off."

Next to Mel Gyendal's jaw dropped at the word Daeva, clearly the term meaning a great deal in his mind.

"Wait. Dark magic...the robes...You're Nanghaithya-"

The man waved his hand and Gyendal's mouth shut immedietly, a soft snort escaping the Daeva.

"Yes I am." Then the man, Nanghaithya, went serious. "I will transport you to the entrance of the citadel but I cannot bring you any further! You must did the way to the king and tell him, make haste as we will not last forever."

Nanghaithya raised a hand, flicking it and causing their surroundings to shimmer and bend around them. Less then a second later Mel and Gyendal found themselves standing in front of a ominous staircase that led down, deep underground.

Behind them multiple explosions of magic energy could be seen, battle cries echoing over the city. Desperation fuelling their steps Mel and Gyendal ignored the events behind them, instead descending below into the earth. No more then three steps in there was a rumble above, a massive stone door falling down over the entrance with a dull boom.

They were trapped now, underground in Tartarus and blind in the pitch blackness.

* * *

Mel held her hand out blindly, summoning fire in her palm to light the area around them. She held it out in front of her to try and illuminate further, her eyes adjusting to the dim light.

They descended down until they came to the bottom, carefully advancing through a dark hallway. There was no running here, not until they knew what they were doing. They reached the end of the hallway, coming to a stop in front of a wall that allowed them to progress left or right only.

A metal plaque was fastened to the cement wall, words written upon it in elegant script. Mel held the fire closer, allowing her and Gyendal to read the words.

"You have come through the very gates of hell to reach this place, but just strength and wit does not make this your home. You wish to greet the king and become one of us? Then come, survive your final challenge of magic as you venture through the black maze and face the King of Demons."

Gyendal trailed off and Mel gaped at the plaque.

"We have to get through a maze?!" She finally burst out, her voice echoing off the walls. "We don't have time for this!"

Gyendal never got the chance to respond as from in the darkness down the corridor to their right there was a groan and a shuffling. Neither of them needed anymore prompting as they turned and ran down the opposite hallway and entered the maze.

"We need a plan. How do we get out of this?" Mel snapped to her comrade as they hurriedly followed the path they had started.

"I don't know! I haven't studied for this anymore then you have!" He snarled.

"There's no tugging in our gut like their was before, we're running blind." Mel snapped before giving a muffled shout and dropping to the ground as Gyendal leapt backwards.

A massive swinging ax that had been hidden in the wall had been released somehow by their approach, Mel could just feel the air disturbance above her neck as it swung into a slot on the opposite hidden by magic.

Mel scrambled forward and away, Gyendal bolting over to her side with inches to spare as the ax came swinging down a second time.

"A simple trap, but a very obvious example of how difficult things are going to be." Gyendal muttered, pulling Mel to her feet. "My assumption is that the deeper we go the more complex the traps will become."

Mel nodded, eyeing the maze walls suspiciously. They had no time to hesitate so despite the newly realized danger they continued forward. The further they got, the more frequent the traps became and they were forced to dodge or avoid trapdoors, collapsing walls, contained magic explosions and weapons.

In front of her Gyendal stepped hard on the ground in front of him and with a mighty shake the entire panel they stood on shuddered before breaking and falling into a pit below. Mel landed hard in the murky water below before scrambling to her feet and racing over to Gyendal who was already up and trying to wring out his shirt.

There was a gurgle and at the far end of the swamp-like area they had fallen into water began to trickle down the side of the wall.

"...that is not a good sign." Mel muttered.

A thump, and as if her words had released the flow a sudden blast of water shot out of the wall. The levels in the swamp began to rise, Mel and Gyendal forced to flee to the opposite wall as the water began to rise around their legs.

Gyendal let out a string of curses in a language she didn't recognize as he ran his hands along the wall, searching for hand grips and cracks that they could use to climb.

Mel started moving down the wall searching urgently for a way up as well, her movements slowed as the water neared her hips. Gyendal's movements became more frantic but she found herself unusually calm, her slightly trembling hands the only sign of her nerves. As she made her way down the wall her hope began to dwindle, the wall was smooth and there was no way to climb with how soaked they were. She lost her footing at one point, eyes widening as she dunked under before finding the ground and pushing herself back upright, sputtering and coughing as she reached to steady herself against the wall. Then suddenly her fingers fell into a hole in the wall, Mel instinctively ripping them out before realizing exactly what had happened and craning her neck back to peer all the way up.

"Hey! I found it!" She shouted out, her black haired companion wading over immediately.

He looked pale and his eyes darted between the water and the rock face before he jerkily gestured for her to start climbing.

"Go. I can stop your fall if you lose your grip."

Mel almost went, but something about his expression stopped her.

"Yeah... if the water rises anymore though you might have to start swimming."

He twitched and hissed through his teeth.

"I'm not an idiot Mel, I can see that as well as you. Start climbing!"

Mel shoved his hand away when he reached to urge her forward as he edged as close to the wall as he could get.

"You can't swim."

Gyendal snarled at her, grabbing her wrists and shoving her at the wall.

"Brilliant deduction, which is why I want you to get up there so I can climb before I need to learn!"

"Why would you wait?! I can swim well and if you were to fall I could support us both enough to keep our heads out of the water, just go!"

Gyendal didn't even pause, hurriedly scaling the wall before bracing himself on his knees as he leaned partially over the ledge and gestured for her to climb, the water having reached the bottom of her ribs.

Mel grabbed at the cracks in the cliff face, her grip slippery as she struggled to ascend the wall. She was just reaching the top when she felt her one hand slip and with a yelp she pulled herself flush against the wall with her other arm and fumbled for a handhold. She never found one as strong hands grabbed her upper arms and hoisted her up, Mel walking herself up until Gyendal had pulled her back from the drop off.

"This feels awful." She muttered as she stood, shaking water off.

There was an sudden shifting from behind her and Mel jumped as a warm cloak was settled around her shoulders, the fabric that came around the wearers shoulders to be closed in the front hanging low enough on her that the hem of the fabric in front brushed against her low stomach.

Her brows shot into her hairline and she spun to face Gyendal who was pinning the bottom of the cloak up to keep it from dragging behind Mel.

"Are you dying or something?! I can't remember having ever seen you parted from this thing until we got to Ira, and now you're putting it on me?!"

He ignored her, reaching forward to fasten the clasp that held the front fully closed.

"Your white shirt got soaked through in the water." He snapped gruffly. "I have zero interest in running around this maze with you freezing in translucent clothing."

Mel stared at him blankly, the absurdity of the situation dawning on her slowly before setting her off in half hysterical gales of laughter, the stress of all the situations they were facing and the impending doom that the Daeva were battling outside all being released through her laughter.

"You're as bad as Edward, when we all had to swim he nearly had an aneurism trying to figure out whether he should give his jacket to me or Stella! How gentlemanly of you, caring about the state of my modesty while we run towards our death sentence." She snorted, amused but appreciative of the warmth that his cloak offered none the less.

"Stop blathering and making stupid assumptions and let's get going." Gyendal ordered, clearly unamused by her comments.

She snickered but followed none the less, breaking into a jog next to Gyendal as they turned around a corner that their path in the maze took them. However instead of reaching another intersection in the maze they found themselves facing a dead end. They stood motionless for a moment, then with a angry snarl Gyendal reared back and hurled a ball of black energy at the maze ground.

"Damn it a-"

"Great Goddess did you see that?!" Mel gasped, gaping at the ground.

Gyendal fell silent as he saw what Mel had exclaimed over, the now faded glowing pattern that had lit up on the ground, leading directly under their feet and in the opposite direction back down the path they had just come. Moments later the Magic pattern faded completely, leaving Mel and Gyendal to stare at the ground in silence before Gyendal gave a snort.

"We are idiots. It should have been obvious, how it talks about this being a test of magic and wit rather then strength. There is Magic in this maze that'll lead us to the exit, we were just to stupid to think of checking for anything even remotely like that."

Mel nodded, kneeling down and pressing her hand to the ground to channel her magic into. Instantly the pattern lit up once more, glowing brighter then before and leading them in a clear path. She rose with an excited grin, her eyes bright with realization as she and Gyendal took off down the path to follow the slowly fading Magic guide. It backtracked them through several turns before taking them down a path they had not explored.

They were forced to fire Magic at the ground ever little bit to keep the path bright, but as they were led through the maze the traps that had one point been nearly all they hit were not almost never, the two of them running with increasing urgency the further they got.

Finally they reached it, the massive stone doors at the end of a final Isle that would lead them to the King of Demons. Mel paused several feet away, leaning on her knees as she heaved for air. Her body was at it's limit of what it could handle, even with the tonics.

"Mel, we-"

Her companion never got to finish his statement as outside there was an explosion so powerful that even the ground in maze shook, unstable get both of them for a moment as they both straightened instantly.

They were officially out of time.

* * *

It took Mel and Gyendal's combined strength along with their magic to force the stone doors open before they were stumbling over their feet in their haste to get through the long hallway that opened into a massive throne room.

Had they not been so panicked Mel would have been awed and slightly frightened of their surroundings. The walls were obsidian black, symbols and writings so ancient and powerful that the air in the throne room felt heavy from it. Demons scurried around the room, vanishing through doorways and carrying various objects to and fro. At the far end stood a massive dais on bloodstone and upon that sat a throne of fire.

A creature like neither had ever seen before sat upon the throne, watching them silently. He was huge, at least as big as the near fully formed demon of the Staff if not bigger. His skin was as white as snow, a stark contrast to his red mane of hair and eyes. Massive blue horns curved out of his head and his blood red robes churned and moved on their own, faces and images of Aia appearing momentarily before vanishing again only to be replaced with something new. Then he spoke, his voice the lowest baritone Mel had ever heard.

"My, did you two manage to set off every trap in the maze? The tremors in the ground are certainly impressive for the work of two humans. I'm impressed, you have survived the challenges. I did not realize that there had been new arrivals recently enough for your travels to bring you here, it must have been forgotten-"

"NO!" Mel shouted out, her lungs pained as she headed for air.

The demon king stopped, clearly startled by an impudent human cutting him off.

"No, it's not like that. We-we're here to warn you. It's coming, the Daeva were olding it off but the shaking is worse because it is coming!"

Gyendal picked up on her desperate words from there.

"The demon of the Destiny staff has been freed, the Shadow Oracle sent us to warn you but we are too late."

The demon king let out a curse in a language so old that it made her cringe, the powerful creature rising and striding across the room to a window covered by matching blood red curtains. With a swipe of his hand they ripped open, revealing what was happening outside.

It was the Demon of the Destiny Staff, it had already reached the maze and was now bypassing it altogether, crushing the gates and walls of the courtyard above where the maze lay below.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" The Demon King roared, turning to face them with glowing eyes.

Mel let out a strangled sound and Gyendal shoved Mel behind him, stepping forward with both hands glowing as Magic formed in his palm.

"The staff was broken in an accident, it had fallen into the lava and we never realized that it even could be destroyed. We are well aware of the ramifications of what happened." Gyendal snapped harshly, his shoulders set.

"You made it in moments to spare, but the demon approaches and I must face him alone. When this is all over the realm must be reborn, the lives lost reset to start as if this had never happened as it continues on as normal from what would have been hours before the release of the demon." He pointed to them and black glowing mist surrounded them, Mel choking as it filled her lungs and cut off her oxygen for mere seconds before vanishing.

"You have not been here long enough, you have barely completed a year mark in our time. You cannot be reborn, you are not one of us yet. You are only realm touched, you are not realm owned. You cannot be reborn."

Despite herself Mel felt her throat close and her eyes sting. This was not the ending she had wanted, she had known this would be her fate but she had prayed it would change.

"We're going to die..." Gyendal whispered in front of her, defeat in his tone as his head bowed.

Another explosion sounded but neither flinched. There was nothing left for them to protect against. This was their end.

"No. This is your end here, but not your end forever. You were never meant to be here, I have seen your fate and the path you should have followed, right back to the beginning. It is time you return to your home, and leave the demon to me. He will not win this, not after facing the Daeva. Goodbye humans, may you never darken the face of my realm again."

The king of the demons threw out his hand, a rumbling filling the room as a twisting wind formed before blasting towards them, Gyendal was thrown sideways by the direction of the wind while Mel fell backwards only to be dragged up by the twister.

Her eyes went wide and panicked as the wind started sucking her further in, her vision of Gyendal slowly becoming obscured.

" ** _GYENDAL_**!"

Her scream echoed through the wind and the chamber, Gyendal diving forward and being forced back as the twister began to close. The cloak began to twist around her legs, Mel thrashing against the magic and reaching out as far as she could to grab onto him.

His hand came up, fingers just touching as Gyendal began to be pushed away again. She let out a desperate cry, jerking herself just forward enough to grab onto his wrist. His other hand came up to grab her arm and she began to pull, spitting out curses as the power of the Magic began to make her feel lightheaded.

"AAUUGHH!"

Then with one last pull he came through, the force of the suction he had broken by entering the whirlwind sending them both tumbling backwards as Gyendal grabbed her tightly and yanked her to him.

Then with a mighty clap the barrier between realms was split, Mel clutching tightly to Gyendal's tunic as the force of the winds threatened to rip them apart and throw them separate directions. They hurtled through the twister before pass through and freefalling towards a stone floor below. They landed in a heap, Mel on top of her companion as doors were flung open and startled shouts were heard.

"MISTRESS!"

There was a flash of green and purple, a tightening of the arms around her, and then Mel knew no more.

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	22. Recovery

Hello all!

So I am impatient to post this next update, and excited to hear what people think:) Last chapter was hopefully as intense as I had intended for it to come across, and I'm crossing my fingers you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

This one will definitely be shorter then the last one and a lot calmer for obvious reasons, but the fun picks up again next chapter!

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Recovery**

* * *

Mel was chased out of a rest deeper then anything she could remember experiencing by nightmares of flames consuming her as a formless shape in the void laughed. She opened her eyes blearily, already dreading whatever came next on their quest-...

Wait.

Her eyes snapped open, blue eyes alert and panicked as she registered several things in rapid succession.

She was laying down, her clothing was soft and warm, and she couldn't sense Gyendal anywhere near her.

She bolted upright, her heart beating frantically as she took in her surroundings that she did not recognize. A simple bed, a small room. She leapt out of the bed and reached for her wrist, full blown terror hitting her when the Staff bracelet that never left her wrist wasn't anywhere to be seen.

An explosion rocked the mystery location as with a guttural shout Magic exploded out from Mel, the closed door shattering like glass and the black haired girl flung herself out of her room.

There was a terrified scream as a brown haired priestess dropped the small basket in her hands and cowered against the wall, the door several feet away blown out of it's frame and into the wall behind as an equally frantic Gyendal appeared in the doorway.

"You're here! We need to leave. Now." Mel barked, starting towards her companion.

She didn't know how they got here, but there was nowhere within the Demon realm that was safe any longer.

"Mel! Gyendal! Stop!"

Voices so familiar and yet so impossible sounded behind Mel and she wheeled to face the direction they had come, flaming hands raised to kill whatever would threaten them.

"...what?!"

It was impossible, an illusion. That standing at the opposite end of that hall Te'ijal and Galahad could be real.

"Illusion." Gyendal growled, stepping to Mel's side with magic sparks arcing along his skin.

"No! Not illusion, freedom!" Galahad cried out, holding up his hands defensively. "You escaped the Demon Realm!"

Escaped?

Mel tried to remember what had last taken place, and in an instant the events of the day before hit her. She gasped out, hand flying to her head and she looked over at Gyendal sharply to see realization dawning in his eyes as well.

Slowly her head turned and she looked at Te'ijal and Galahad once more, taking in their presence and the building around them. She reached out with a flat hand to place it against the wall, the texture of cool wood like nothing in the Demon Realm rough against her hand.

"He sent us home. We're alive." Gyendal said numbly next to her, sounding as disbelieving of the situation as she was.

Mel said nothing, staring blankly ahead as she replayed the events leading up to her waking up a second time over in her head. He had sent them back to Aia. They weren't trapped in the Demon Realm any longer.

They were home.

Her breathing became ragged and she fell against the wall, shifting to rest her back against it as she slid down to the ground with her feet apart, knees drawn up to press her back against the wood. Her elbows rested against her legs and as emotion welled in her Mel dropped her head, her hands laced behind her head as she hid her face from view and the tears came.

Her shoulders shook with silent sobs, everything they had lived through crashing down on her at once as overwhelming relief filled her at the realization that it was finally over.

"Goddess, we survived. We got out of it, we're alive." She choked out.

Te'ijal and Galahad's concerned voices were nothing more then indistict mumblings from where they stood. In front of her she saw knees lower to the floor and hands rested on her arms, gripping gently as Gyendal knelt in front of her.

"We made it." His voice was thick and Mel found herself unable to respond.

They had finished, they had succeeded. They were free.

* * *

Mel didn't know how long they sat there, recovering themselves from their own emotional reaction. Her body was exhausted, as was her mind which was probably why she hadn't been able to control her tears of relief. After everything they had been through, it was finally over.

Eventually Gyendal released her arms and rose, stepping away as Mel lifted her head and slowly stood. Te'ijal and Galahad had slipped out of the hallway sometime while they had been recovering and Mel shrugged before walking down the hallway to where she had seen them standing.

They entered a large living space, Te'ijal sitting on one of the couches next to Galahad in deep discussion.

"Te'ijal? Galahad?"

The two looked up, startled before breaking into wide smiles as Mel grinned and approached. She hugged Te'ijal first, and as unaffectionate when it came to physical gestures as the vampiress was, her friend returned the embrace tightly.

"It is good to see you again rabbit. I believed that we would never see you again." Te'ijal said solemnly as she drew away.

Mel nodded, turning to Galahad and hugging him as well. He two returned the gesture before releasing Mel to step back. There was movement beside Mel and she glanced over to see Te'ijal step around her to face Gyendal.

"Brother." Her tone was not cold as it had been before when speaking to the ex-vampire, but it was not friendly either.

"...Sister."

Mel watched in interest as Gyendal moved to step forward, then hesitated. His gaze darted around the room for a second before landing on something on the opposite wall and closing his eyes. She glanced in the direction of his gaze only to notice a portrait, one that held faces she recognized albeit two of them significantly younger. It was a painting of his family.

Then Gyendal exhaled a laugh, the sound depreciating and tired.

"I suppose you never expected me to show up in your life again. Terribly sorry to inform, you that the arrow never did the trick on me."

Te'ijal twitched before crossing her arms, surveying the slightly slumped form of the dark Mage.

"I must admit, I was rather shocked to see both of you laying over where the portal had been at one point located. You definitely have not lost your touch when it comes to making entrances, with the massive clap that we felt the shockwaves even here in Ged'here. Yemite came for me, half hysterical as she babbled about the return of her mistress and the dark lord."

Mel snorted slightly and Galahad spoke from behind her.

"Neither of you can imagine what was going through our mind as we raced into that cathedral to find you both collapsed and unconscious with steaming skin as what appeared to be a wormhole between realms closed in the ceiling. At first we thought you were dead, your pulses were so weak and you were hardly breathing. It took several minutes to untangle you from each other-"

"Untangle?" Mel echoed, staring at the dark night in mild confusion.

Galahad smirked slightly, an expression rather unusual on his usually stoic face.

"Quite. Gyendal had quite the tight grip on you, I was impressed. Not to mention that the way you two much have fallen the cloak managed to tangle around your guy's legs rather impressively."

Mel shrugged after a moment, her energy depletion from the Demon Realm catching up with her quickly. An awkward silence filled the room, only to be broken by urgent pounding on the front door. Galahad's head flipped to face the source of the noise before he hurried to the door, pulling it open to reveal a purple and green darkling.

"Is mistress-?! YOU'RE AWAKE!"

The darkling rocketed towards her, throwing herself at Mel in an exuberant hug that Mel just barely managed to remain standing for.

"You're awake! When I saw you in the cathedral I thought you were dying! Did you take over the demon realm as queen? Is dark lord your slave now?"

Mel couldn't help but laugh as she hugged the darkling.

"No I didn't take over the demon realm. And yes, he very much is my slave."

"Excuse me?! Like hell I am!" Gyendal snapped, crossing his arms and shooting her a black look.

Mel smirked wickedly at him before turning her attention back to the darkling who was taking a breath to continue. As Yemite went off on this long tirade about the other darkling not showing her proper respect after she fell into the portal, Mel found herself fully relaxing for the first time she could remember in years.

She didn't have to fear the next morning any more, she could just live finally.

* * *

Galahad sat on the couch reading a letter that had just arrived that day, although he was hardly focused on what was written on it. Instead he was watching the two humans in the corner of the room, Mel's face red as she raged at Gyendal over something and the tall dark Mage merely reclined on the chair with his book, smirking slightly as he pointedly ignored her.

"...GODDESS YOU ARE INFURIATING!" Mel bellowed, Gyendal raising a brow but never looking away from his book.

"Is that so? Funny, I thought we established this already."

"...I hate you."

"Of course, keep telling yourself that."

Mel hissed and stalked away, Gyendal looking up at watching her retreat with glittering eyes that held a look Galahad couldn't remember seeing on him before before turning back to his book.

Galahad stood and headed into the hall, knocking lightly on his bedroom door to alert Te'ijal that he was coming in before entering and closing it softly behind him.

"Te'ijal, I have a bet I'd like to make with you."

His wife looked up from where she was polishing her bow with surprise.

"A bet? On what?"

He sat down on the edge of the bed facing Te'ijal's chair and leaned forward, arms resting on his knees.

"I bet that in the next three or four months all that tension between them will finally reach the place that one of them will get fed up over it and we'll be seeing those two end up together. When they're interacting you can practically cut the tension that fills the room with a knife."

Te'ijal burst into laughter.

"You give them far too much credit crumpet. It'll take them at least a year to get over their pride." She scoffed.

Galahad grinned.

"Then you accept my bet? If I win, we spend a week in Sedona and I give the young king the ability to call on us should they ever face supernatural threat."

Te'ijal smirked.

"I accept your terms. I need nothing if I win, simply being able to say I told you so if enough for me. I say that it'll take close to a year if not longer."

Galahad laughed, shooting his wife a grin.

"I look forward to seeing the young king again. Better start packing your bags wife."

* * *

Mel hadn't slept as much as she had in the weeks following their arrival before in her life. It took her body seemingly ages to truly recover from the toll that the Demon Realm on her. Every time she woke up she had to remind herself that she was back in Aia.

One large change in herself that she had noticed since exiting the realm was the nightmares. Every night they came, relentless. At first she had tried to suffer through in her room, but eventually the room felt as though is was stifling her and she had to exit, retreating to the living room where she would sit with tea and watch blankly out the window.

Several nights after she had started retreating to the living room she had been joined by Gyendal who looked as tired and haunted as she felt after the nightmares. Not a word was exchanged between them as he would join her on the couch and they would simply sit in the peace of the darkened room watching outside. It was calming to have another presence with her, it took away the gnawing feeling of being alone.

Her life fell into a calm routine during their recovery, she would get up during the day and help Te'ijal around the house or sit and talk with Galahad, argue with Gyendal over some stupid thing then she would go to bed for a few hours before being woken up and having to start her nightly vigil.

Something that hung in the back of her mind as a constant reminder was Stella and Edward. She missed them so much, but at the same time she almost feared the idea of meeting them again. She was so different now, she could feel the change inside. Would they view her the same?

Part of her was content never to learn the answer to that question, but thanks to a little bit of meddling on Te'ijal's part she never got that option as the vampiress entered the sitting room one afternoon while Galahad was showing Mel the in-depth maps he had created of all the places they had travelled during the orbs quest.

"I have gotten word husband! We all pack our things and tomorrow head to Harburg so that we can take the magic mirror express to Thais! Stella and Edward are home from their journey to Naylith and when they learned of the events at the Underfall cathedral are desperate to see Mel again."

Mel bolted to a standing position, her eyes wide.

"You told them?! I wasn't ready to face-"

"You'll never be ready at this rate Mel, so I gave it a push. This is non-negotiable. You'll be going with us, as will Yemite and Gyendal. They want to know the story of what took place, and that requires all the parties involved." Te'ijal said briskly.

"You're bringing me?! Have you lost your everloving mind?!" Gyendal snapped. "I am the reason that Mel suffered through those quests, I highly doubt that they will welcome me with open arms. Do they even know that I came through with her?!"

Te'ijal smirked.

"Well Edward has always said that he loves a good surprise. Besides, it's been years since you fell. Once he understands the situation I'm sure he'll handle it better then you think."

Mel scoffed.

"We were down there for only a little over a year, and you think that Edward will "handle it better"?! Are we talking about the same person? Because the guy I know would take a lot longer then a mere year and a bit to get over his hatred of Gyendal."

Galahad went silent and Te'ijal raised a brow.

"I thought you mentioned being immortal like vampires because you were realm touched, is that not why you remain looking as you did when you fell?" Te'ijal asked slowly.

Mel stared at her in confusion.

"Well yeah I'm sure that'll be the reason in a few years, but it's hardly been long enough for me to have noticeably aged."

Galahad and Te'ijal exchanged looks and behind her Gyendal made a sudden noise of understanding.

"Mel... did Kandy ever tell you about how time moves in the Demon Realm verses up here? The apocotherapist told me that time moves so slowly down there that you could age only a few years there, yet if you were to return to Aia twenty years could have passed." The black haired male said carefully, as if to try and avoid setting Mel off.

Mel stiffened, her gaze flitting between Te'ijal and Galahad.

"How long." She snapped, her tone curt and cold.

"Sixteen years have passed since you fell." Galahad said quietly.

Mel let out a shaking breath, sinking back down into her seat and running one hand through her hair.

"Oh."

Galahad rested a sympathetic hand on her shoulder for a moment before pulling it away.

"Well, sixteen years or not Edward is like an excited schoolboy according to Stella at the prospect of seeing you again so I'd prepare myself if I were you." Te'ijal said with a slight smirk. "Get your things ready. We leave tomorrow."

* * *

As Mel stood in front of the Magic mirror express in Harburg she felt her palms become slightly clammy, nerves and excitement filling her. Te'ijal pulled the toggle to activate the mirror the surface suddenly glowing before the entire mirror grew in size to fit people through and the reflective surface shimmered before becoming an opalescent portal.

At the sight of the portal so much like that in the Demon Realm she instinctively reared back, her pulse speeding up. Te'ijal and Galahad both turned to look at her with puzzlement as Yemite stood at Mel's side watching her mistress worriedly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hearing someone step up to face her.

"Not the Demon Realm." Gyendal said quietly.

"I'm well aware of that." Mel snapped, angry with herself for allowing something like this to get to her.

She pushed past him and forced memories of the Demon Portals as far down as they would go before stepping through. The sensation of the pre-set portal passing her through made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she let out a long and relieved sigh when she came out on the other side moments later.

Once everyone had come through the mirror and they were standing in Thais once again their little group started out of the house and towards the castle. Each step closer they took the more jittery she felt until they finally mounted the stairs into into the palace and approached the throne room.

A servant saw them and her eyes lit up, clearly realizing who Mel was and she near ran ahead of them to where Stella and Edward would be.

"Your majesty! They're here!"

There was an excited shout and a clatter, Mel stepping into view as her oldest friend here stood with excitement in his eyes.

"MEL!"

She couldn't help the grin on her face as Edward raced towards her, scooping her up into a bone crushing hug.

"Goddess, when you fell that day I thought we would never see you again. I thought you would die there." He said, squeezing her tighter.

"Can't...breath!" Mel gasped out, thumping him on the back until he let go with a sheepish grin.

"Sorry Mel, I just...I really missed you." He said quietly, pulling Mel into a second hug albeit this one much more careful.

Any time before this when Edward had tried to hang off of her she would yell at him, far from a touchy-feely kind of personality. But now she returned the hug, having missed her friend far more then she would ever willingly admit.

Finally Edward stepped back and made way for Stella who rushed to her and pulled her into a tight embrace, tears overflowing out of the Naylithen's violet eyes.

"I missed you so much, I'm so glad you're alive." She cried into Mel's shoulder.

Mel wrapped her arms as tightly as possible around her friend, careful of Stella's beautiful blue wings.

"I missed you two. I missed all of you so much." She said quietly, Edward clearly hearing her by the pained smile he shot her over Stella's head.

Seeing her friends again, it was everything she wanted and more. Eventually Stella pulled back, delicately wiping her eyes and giving Mel her first really good view of her friends.

Edward was thirty seven now and had an air of maturity and seriousness about him that he had never possessed before. He looked more comfortable in his royal garb then Mel had ever truly believed he would be. Thirty eight year old Stella was as beautiful as she ever had been, kindness practically radiating off of the gentle woman.

"Is this Mel?" A young voice asked, Mel turning to look behind her where a teenaged girl of about fifteen approached.

She had her father's brown hair, and her mothers Violet eyes. Carmel coloured skin providing a striking balance between Edward and Stella.

"Yes sweetheart. Mel, I would like you to meet our eldest daughter. Sweetheart, this is our friend and your namesake."

Mel blinked in surprise as the girl broke into a wide smile, reaching over to embrace a startled Mel for a second before pulling back.

"It's an honour to meet you. Mother and Father always talked about you, I had always wished I could meet you." The young woman said bashfully. "I'm Melanie, but I've always just been called Mel."

Her eyes widened slightly at this revelation and she looked sharply over at Edward and Stella who merely smiled unrepentantly.

"You named your daughter after me?!" She squawked, earning laughter from her friends and their daughter.

"Yes we did." Stella confirmed with a giggle, reaching over to smooth down the back of her daughter's hair.

"I-...you guys are the worst." Mel grumbled, turning pink.

Melanie took a step forward, peering around at Te'ijal and Galahad with interest.

"Obviously I know Te'ijal and Galahad, and I know Yemite from the couple of times she's visited, but who's dark and brooding behind them?" She suddenly questioned.

Mel grimaced and Te'ijal gave a wicked smile as she moved to step out of the way and allow a clear view of the figure lurking behind them.

"I know how much you love surprises Edward, so I thought I'd save telling you about this other...happening until you couldn't do anything about it."

The look on Edwards face was priceless when Te'ijal stepped out of the way, and Mel decided to put aside her slight concern for Gyendal's life and limb in favour of enjoying what was going to be a truly spectacular show.

One could almost feel the moment Edward and Gyendal made eye contact. The dark Mage was as cold and unreadable as he had been all those years ago, with the one distinct difference that this time Mel could see his discomfort and wariness although other then Te'ijal she knew no one else really could.

One minute of silence.

Two minutes.

"WHAT THE HELL IS **HE** DOING HERE?!"

Edward's roar echoed through the throne room and his hand reached to his belt where Mel belatedly realized his hand an ornamental blade hanging. He yanked the blade loose of it's sheath but before he had a chance to get further then a few steps Mel leapt in front of him, pushing him back and throwing up a magic forcefield around her angry friend to hold him in place.

"Why are you stopping me?! That bastard was the one who destroyed your life! Because of him you ended up fulfilling that prophecy, because of him Stella died, because of his games as Spook you had to suffer further, because of him Lydia was able to take the throne and punish my people with her greed!"

Mel held up her hands to silence him, a quick glance at Stella showing that she had grabbed Melanie and pulled her daughter protectively to her. Mel groaned, this was probably the stupidest idea that Te'ijal had yet but there was no backing out now.

"Edward stop for a minute, how do you think I got out of that Demon Realm?! If I hadn't worked with him I'd be dead, and so would a whole lot more people. There's a story behind this, one that if you'll calm down and think you'd realize is pretty huge if both Te'ijal and Galahad are willing to bring him." Mel urged, glancing behind her for a moment to shoot a black look at said vampiress.

"He. Killed. My. Wife." Edward spat from between gritted teeth.

Mel didn't know what she was supposed to say in answer, Edward was right in a way, Stella never would have died had Gyendal not drained the healers powers by forcing Stella to heal him during the last battle against him as a vampire.

Finally Te'ijal stepped up and spoke.

"My brother has done wrong in the past, but I believe you just may want to hear the truth behind this situation. He may have been the cause for the moths Death in the past, but he is the reason for Mel's survival now. Stop reacting with emotion and think for once, does a good king condemn before knowing the facts?"

Edward's eyes blazed and Stella let out a shaking breath.

"Te'ijal is right. We don't know their story, it would be wrong to act without knowledge. It's been sixteen years Edward, and according to them he's partially responsible for Mel's return, isn't that enough cause to learn the truth behind their story?

"He had better saved the flipping universe or I swear to the Goddess, I'll toss him in the dungeon and feed him to Melanie's pet dragon." Edward threatened with a sulky look, reluctantly sheathing his blade.

"This is clearly going to be a long story, why don't we go to our wing to talk where we won't have to worry about being disturbed." Stella suggested hesitantly, looking towards Gyendal cautiously only to blink in surprise when he sighed and offered a small nod with a gaze that held no malice.

Edward pushed through them when Mel dropped the forcefield and he strode past everyone to start down the hall with a poisonous look at Gyendal.

"Let's go. I want your story, and I want to know more then just your little overview. Especially if you want _him_ to stick around."

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	23. Tales To Be Told

Hello all!

So last chapter slowed the emotional rollercoaster that the Demon Realm layer chapters were building up, and this is the relaxing fluff chapter I have been withholding. We are only a couple of chapters away from the end of this story, so I'm both excited and sad to post this. It'll be strange not to have this fanfic on the go after over a year of this in progress.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Tales To Be Told**

* * *

Mel fell into step next to Gyendal at the back of the group. Her muscles were tense and tight, her face shuttered. She didn't want to walk them through what they had gone through, she just wanted to forget about that quest.

"We won't tell them any details that we don't want people being aware of." Gyendal said under his breath, just loud enough for him to hear.

She gave a sharp nod in acknowledgement, following through the castle into the private royal sitting room. Stella, Edward and Melanie took a seat on the largest couch, Te'ijal and Galahad claiming the smaller loveseat. Mel took a seat in the chair directly across from Edward and Stella, glancing back as Gyendal stepped up right behind the chair with his hands resting on the back, the backs of his fingers just brushing against her shoulders.

"What's your story?" Edward asked gruffly, grunting when Stella elbowed him and shot him a look.

"We don't need to know everything, we understand that it probably isn't a memory you want to relive to having been living in the Demon Realm. We just need to understand how you got back with Gyendal and seem to be, well...civil."

Edward nodded in agreement to his wife's words before shooting suspicious look at Gyendal.

"You're more then welcome to take a seat so you aren't hovering like an evil spirit over Mel." He said pointedly.

"If it's all the same to you, your majesty, I believe I'll remain right where I am with a block between us. I'd have for you to "slip" while you were fiddling with that fancy dagger and pin me to my seat." Gyendal said smoothly, leaning comfortably against the chair back.

Edward grumbled and Te'ijal snickered.

"Go on rabbit, he'll stop whining eventually."

A fleeting smirk passed over Mel's lips before she fell serious and began to talk.

She told them about how when they had first fallen into the realm she had thrown the Destiny Staff into the lava so that Gyendal couldn't use it and how after finding out that she had also thrown away their only chance of escape they had retreated to the city of Sheian Lyr to live. She shared the strange occurrences in the realm magic right up until the day the demon finally rose in the form of a unnatural and magical storm. She explained how the Demon Realm had seven layers and in order to get to the only being able to stop the powerful demon they had to travel through those layers.

She shared that the deeper they traveled through the layers the harder it became, she and Gyendal took turns saving the other person from dying or falling into realm temptation. When she got to talking about the realms that trapped them in illusions she finally hesitated, fingers flexing and relaxing in her lap.

"What were the illusions" Stella prompted gently, looking curious but hesitant to ask.

She flinched slightly when she felt movement on her shoulders before relaxing a split second later as hands settled down on them securely. Edward's nostrils flailed but Stella silenced him as she studied Mel with a sudden realization that Mel couldn't place the reasoning for.

"Foolish. Appealing to first our greatest wish or the path our life could have taken, then later our fears and the worst nightmares that haunted us. You can't possibly understand what it's like to be bombarded with so much that you begin to lose your grip on what is reality and what isn't, forced to ground yourself somehow or risk losing your mind altogether." She said bitterly, her memories pulling her back into those moments until she registered a gentle squeeze on her shoulders to bring her back to reality.

"Later we went through the literal hell, where the worst of Aia goes to face punishment. Gyendal died, nearly quite permanently which would have condemned all of Aia as in the last realm I never would have even woken up to realize that the demon was coming through the portal into Tartarus until I was about to be eaten or something. We were forced through a final challenge before reaching the Demon King nearly too late. We thought we were going to die, but instead just before the Demon King stepped into battle he threw some sort of wind tunnel at us that sucked us up and ripped the fabric of the realms between Aia and the Demon Realm open for mere moments to drop us through."

Mel let out a long sigh and forced her tensed muscles to relax, Gyendal pulling his hands away and straightening behind her.

"Now you understand our comfort with his presence here." Te'ijal commented, shooting a pointed look at Edward who looked as sulky as a child who's ice cream had just been taken away.

Stella rested a hand on her husbands arm and he turned to her, exchanging a long look between them before Edward slumped in defeat.

"...fine. He can stay, and I won't feed him to the dragon." Edward said irritably.

Stella smiled at her husband and turned to face Gyendal, her expression still somewhat guarded but the fear no longer at the forefront.

"We thank you for your sacrifice alongside Mel for the safety of Aia, and would like to extend a place to stay alongside our friends. You may stay in the guest wing with them. I'll have a servant take you all there right away to settle in."

Mel rose with her friends and followed the servant that greeted them and gestured for them to follow out of the royal wing, looking forward to sitting and relaxing quietly by herself.

* * *

"Um, M- Lady Mel?"

The tentative voice startled Mel out of the book she had been going through in the guest sitting room and she looked up to see Melanie standing there awkwardly.

"Don't bother with the Lady stuff. I'm about as far from a Lady as they come, and I can't be bothered with those kinds of formalities." Mel said, setting the book aside. "What is it?"

The girl's cheeks went pink and she looked down for a moment before blurting out her question.

"I'mamagetoobutI'mnotahealerandI'mlearningaboutdarkmagicbutI'mnotverygoodandJwaswonderingifyoucouldhelp."

Mel blinked.

"I have no idea what you just said. Repeat it and try pausing between words this time will you?"

"Okay. I'm a Mage as well, but I'm not a healer like my mom is. I'm learning the basics of dark magic in school right now, I'm actually on break right now but I'm a couple of weeks I go back to Shadwood Acadamy and I'm supposed to do a test on the basics of dark magic but I really suck at it. I was wondering if you could maybe...help me." Melanie trailed off and after a moment Mel laughed.

"You look like I'm going to murder you, stop that. Whatever your dad told you I promise I'm worse but I have yet to incinerate a person so relax. Sure, I'll help you. What did you want to know?"

Melanie let out a sigh of relief and took a seat next to Mel, the young teens eyes bright.

"How do you tap your magic core and channel it into dark magic?"

Mel leaned back.

"Well clearly you aren't a dark Mage yourself which makes it a little more difficult for me to explain, but the best trick I've heard from the students I had trained with during my time at Shadwood is anger. When your magic is neutral you can tap all types of magic, unlike a dark Mage or a healer that can only use very basic types of magic outside of their own sphere of power. For dark magic, you need to channel your anger through your magic. You don't want to do that outside or a training situation though, as when you add emotion into the handling of magic it becomes more powerful and thus more dangerous."

Melanie listened intently and Mel couldn't help but smile. The girl had Edward's smile, and that excited sparkle in her eyes when it came to learning.

"Can I try it now?"

Mel nodded, pulling her own magic to the surface in case she needed to snuff out anything from Melanie. The teen closed her eyes, her brows drawing together. Moments later fire blazed out of the girl's palm and her eyes flew open to see what she achieved.

"It worked!" She squealed, the fire vanishing as Melanie gave a hop in her seat.

"It won't be long before you get used to the feel of tapping your magic and challenging it into dark magic, then you won't need to put the effort into this trick." Me assured her.

"Awesome!" Melanie exclaimed before pausing as the sound of a bell ringing echoed through the room.

Mel startled and her friends daughter giggled.

"It's the chief telling us that dinner is served." She explained. "Mom and me set up a couple of years ago, it's magic and when the chief pulls the handle the magic makes the bell ringing noise all over the castle."

That made Mel grin, the idea was pretty creative she did have to give them that. The two females rose and started through the castle to the dining hall.

"You're gonna get to meet my siblings in a few minutes, they should have gotten back about ten minutes ago to freshen up before dinner."

Mel did a double take at the teens words.

"There are more of you? Please tell me that Edward did not win the argument and now has seven children like he wanted at the beginning."

Melanie blinked before bursting into laughter, her violet eyes shining.

"No, only four of us. I have twin siblings that are two years younger then me, and a little sister who's five years younger then me. They're just getting back from school since they all go to the School of War and Magic. They'll be super excited to finally meet you!"

They reached the dining hall quickly and Mel was met with a sight that both warmed her heart and wrenched it at the same time. Edward stood with two plum haired thirteen year olds in front of them talking eagerly about swords, one girl and one boy. Stella was helping a ten year old girl with curled brown locks do up her bow on the back of her dress.

She loved seeing them happy with a family, but it hurt to see everything she had missed out on. She never got to teach them all the bad habits she had learned drove Edward nuts, she never got to steal them away and teach them the fine art of roasting rats just like she had always teased Stella and Edward about doing with their kids. She never got to be that really awesome aunt that they did all the bad stuff with to terrorize their parents, nor did she get to watch them grow up.

"Hey guys! Look who's here!"

As Melanie's call the kids all turned to face their direction and Mel found herself standing there awkwardly as they gaped at her.

"Betcha you never expected to meet the Mel, the original one at least." Melanie announced with a grin.

"Wow! You look just like the pictures mommy and daddy have!" The ten year old exclaimed, trying to pull free from Stella.

Edward smiled and nodded, slinging an arm around the shoulder of each twin as he winked at Mel.

"Guys meet Mel, she escaped the Demon Realm and is finally home. Mel, these are the rest of my kiddos. These two troublemakers are Nathan and Nayia, while the baby of the family over there is Mistia."

Mel nodded uncomfortably, pointedly ignoring the snicker coming from Te'ijal where she stood between Galahad and Gyendal.

"...hi."

There was laughter at Mel's lacklustre greeting and everyone was seated at the table, all of Stella and Edward's children on one side and Mel's friends on the other while Stella and Edward sat at the head. Dinner was relaxing and enjoyable despite the occasional black look aimed at Gyendal who was seated on the far side of Mel away from Stella and Edward. The food was amazing and through idle chatter Mel learned more about Stella and Edward's little family.

She learned that Nathan and Nayia were training to become swordsmasters, they were near the top of their class and when they fought together against opponents they were near unstoppable. Mistia was a healer just like Stella, and ran an animal care centre taking in injured animals and healing them before releasing them either into the wild or giving then back to their owners if the injured creature had been a pet.

"...did your dad ever tell you about the time he tried to steal a magic mushroom from a fairy forest?" Mel asked, grinning when the kids all spun towards her and Edward groaned.

"Are you kidding Mel?!"

She gave an evil laugh and rubbed her hands together, her gaze sparkling with evil glee.

"So we were all the the fairy forest on a quest for this queen that had been turned into a frog and while we were going your dad saw this extra sparkly mushroom. He approached it and poked it with the end of his sword and when it didn't attack he decided that it would be a great souvenir. Well he started ripping at the mushroom to pull it out of the ground, getting all excited when it moved for him." She leaned in, eyes meeting each other kids at the table while Edward covered his face with a mumble.

"Well that mushroom moved alright, it rose out of the ground and then just kept on going. Turned out that the "mushroom" was the headpiece for a fairie monster, and it was more then a little bit ticked at your dad. Your dad screamed like a little girl when the monster pulled him off and threw him into the river. It took the rest of us to appease the monster with offers of food and gems we had been planning to sell, then the creature finally calmed down and went back to sleep, leaving your dad to join us who was now soaked to the bone and coated in magical shimmer from the water. Honestly, it was priceless."

The kids burst into laughter, his twins poking fun at him while Melanie muffled her giggles and Mistia summoned sparkles to flick at her dad.

Stella's soft giggles filled the room alongside the rest of their laughter and she met Mel's eyes with her one cheerful and happy. Mel grinned at her before taking another bite of her food, savouring both the food and the company.

It felt so good to be with her friends again.

* * *

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	24. Her Choice

Hello all!

Well, this time has finally come. This is the very last full chapter to this fanfic, next update is the epilogue and then this will finally be completed. Shadows of My Twisted Destiny is the first fanfic I ever wrote for Aveyond, and has been going for over a year now. This fanfic has become quite special to me, between being my first fanfic for a fandom I loved, but over all the sites I've posted this, Shadows of My Twisted Destiny has allowed me to meet some of the most amazing people and fellow fans through their willingness to give my crackpairing madness a chance.

All of you who have fav, followed and reviewed are amazing wonderful people and you have my most heartfelt thanks for supporting my story through all this. It's been a huge encouragement to me to see that people are liking my fanwork:)

This final chapter is a bittersweet one to post for me as I finally end the journey that this story has taken me and all of you on.

And so without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

 **Her Choice**

* * *

Mel stood on the large balcony that they could access from the guest wing, leaning against the stone railing as she watched the stars above silently. The wind blew through her soft white Mage dress, she had abandoned the red and plum overcoat in her room in preference of the wind blowing across her bared shoulders.

Nearly a month had passed since they had arrived in Thais and Mel had found herself at peace for the most part, being among friends and loved ones finally. Tomorrow they went home after breakfast, although Mel wasn't entirely sure where home was at that point. To be honest though, she really didn't care where it was. Just so long as it was Aia, where her world was so many more colours then red and grey.

Above several shooting stars lit up the sky and she smiled softly, reminded of the first adventure she had taken with Edward and how they had discovered Stella in the ruins.

Then there was a rustle behind her and Mel turned sharply to see Gyendal approaching, stepping up to the railing next to her.

"Beautiful, isn't it." He said after a moment, his voice quiet. "I never realized how much I relished the ability to look up and see the stars until I couldn't anymore."

Mel hummed in agreement, returning her attention to the night sky and taking enjoyment out of the feeling of the breeze blowing over her. They stood in companionable silence for a while, just appreciating the natural beauty around that they had sorely missed in the Demon Realm.

"What did you see in Rhapsody?"

The sudden and unexpected question made Mel pause before turning to the black haired male next to her in puzzlement.

"What? Where did that come from, and why do you care?"

He turned to lean his back against the stone railing, bracing his arms on the flat top as he studied her with unreadable eyes.

"Humour me." Was his cryptic answer.

Mel sighed, turning back to watch out into the courtyard below blankly.

"I was shown the path my life would have taken if I hadn't fallen into the portal after you, which is probably why I was able to break out of it sooner then you. It wasn't my greatest desire that I was living." She snorted softly. "I don't know how it was for you when you first went into the illusion but I felt like I was in a daze, I didn't understand why I couldn't remember how I got there but I knew that something was wrong."

Gyendal was silent as she spoke and Mel paused for a moment as she thought about the illusion she had faced.

"I saw Edward and Stella happy, married soon after the quest ended and this time I was there to see it. In that reality I had a happy life, I was married to a man I had met at Shadwood Acadamy and I had two daughters. It was the life I should have wanted, the life I would have given nearly anything for if you had asked me before I fell into the Demon Realm."

"How did you break free?" He prompted.

The question made Mel tense. That questioned treaded on dangerous territory. She wasn't stupid or unaware, she could feel the change in their relationship. A tension that had been building for over a year although Mel didn't realize it right away. She didn't want to answer wrong, if she gave too much away things could change for the worse and she would be right back where she started after the quest for the Death Orb.

"...when I was looking at the man the illusion his eyes were green just like yours. I made eye contact and his form switched to yours for a moment. It was so out of place in the illusion that I knew something was wrong, it seems like my consciousness was not so easily suppressed and it influenced the illusion in a way that would be blatantly obvious to snap me back to reality."

She refused to look over and see his reaction to her statement, instead focusing intently straight ahead.

"I see." He murmured softly. "Tell me something Mel, if you could make any choice right here and right now to dictate the path of your life here what would it be?"

Mel twitched at his question, her head snapping up in time to the flush up the back of her neck.

"I'm not answering that question." She said stiffly, her tone unusually guarded.

She could feel his eyes on her and she glanced over to find his green gaze dancing with something she couldn't quite place. The smallest smirk played at the corners of his lips and he slowly straighten up from where he was leaning against the patio.

"Really? Interesting... well unlike you I know what choice I'm going to make, you're more then welcome to make your own in that span of time." He purred, turning sideways to face her.

She instinctively turned to face him before backing away a step, the look on his face unnerving. Traces of amusement flitted through his eyes at her actions, one hand moving without her notice until it settled over her own one on the stone railing as he followed her retreat with a step towards her.

She was frozen and he took advantage of that, taking another step which brought him toe to toe with her. He released a slow chuckle at her deer in the headlights expression before slowly leaning in.

Mel couldn't of moved even if she wanted to, and while a part of her mind was positive she was crazy the rest of her wanted so badly to see what happened next. He was millimetres away, she could feel the rapid rise and fall of his chest with how close he stood and _why was he hesitating now_?!

"What do you want Mel?" He breathed. "Push me away or finish what I started, it's your choice."

It was the easiest choice she had ever made, she never considered for a second any other option as she shut her eyes and tilted her head forward to close the last of the distance between them.

The sensation that followed was so very familiar that if she had wanted she could have easily imagined herself back in that plaza of Peliad during the New Years celebration, yet at the same time the kiss was as far from being the same as it could get. The man in front of her was the truth behind the mask, and there was a rawness in his kiss that had never been there before. As hands gripped her waist to pull her closer it was like all the puzzle pieces from each and every interaction from the time this door had been opened in her life was falling into place in her mind.

She matched him movement for movement, electricity shooting down her spine as teeth nipped her bottom lip. Her hands came up to weave through his hair and wrap around his neck, pulling him closer.

Eventually they pulled back in favour of oxygen, breathing accelerated and cheeks flushed. Their eyes met and Mel couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped her, Gyendal following soon after with his own deep chuckles as the stress and tension drained away.

"They are going to kill us if they ever find out about this, you know that right? I'll die for being a traitor, and you'll die because you're you. We're so dead." Mel mused.

Gyendal snorted.

"I'm sure I can handle your enraged friend, I've taken on you and your entire party before and made it out alive haven't I?"

"Yeah, but last time Te'ijal and Galahad weren't there and you weren't human." Mel pointed out idly, relaxing in his arms.

He gave a noncommittal noise in acknowledgment, eyes sparkling with mischief.

"You know, with all the focus on fighting and surviving neither of us are very skilled in less practical skills such as this. We very clearly need practice, it's only right to do our absolute best when engaging in any sort of long term activity."

Mel was couldn't help but grin at his comment, her lax fingers in his hair tightening slightly and earning her a hitched breath from the usually unaffected Gyendal who's eyes closed for a split second.

"You know, I think I agree."

* * *

Te'ijal sat in front of the chess table in her and Galahad's room, studying the board in front of them intently while Galahad returned from the bathroom where he had been changing and readying himself for bed.

As he went by the window she saw him glance out idly and move to continue past back to her when he suddenly stopped up short and turned to stare, jaw hanging agape.

"Wife, you are not going to believe this but..." He trailed off as a slow grin worked it's way across his face and he started to laugh.

Te'ijal raised a brow and stood, coming over to investigate whatever would bring on such an odd reaction. She reached the window and glanced down at at the guest patio.

"Whatever is you-... well now, that certainly escalated quickly." Te'ijal said slowly, amusement filling her as she took in her brother and the rabbit who stood embracing most passionately at the railing.

Galahad cleared his throat pointedly and Te'ijal looked over at her husband to see an expression that she could only describe as the look of a cat that had just gotten the cream.

"I hope you like the smell of sunscreen my wife, because the next place we go from Thais is Sedona!"

* * *

Edward poured himself a glass of water from the Crystal pitcher that was set in his room, watching with a soft smile as his wife flitted around the room getting things shut down for the night.

She was just reaching to close the curtain of one of their large windows when she looked down at something below and let out a shocked exclamation.

"Oh dear goddess!"

His brows furrowed in mild concern.

"Did the dragon get out again sweetheart?"

Stella turned, a hand pressed delicately to her mouth. Her eyes were wide, but also gleeful.

"Sweetheart, come here a moment will you?" She said, her voice muffled.

Edward approached with interest, hoping that it was a good sort of surprise and not a "the dragon is eating the garden and giving the gardeners aneurysms" kind of surprise.

He reached the window and peered down in the direction Stella pointed...only for his water glass to slip from his glass to land on the floor and spray water everywhere.

Shock and near comical levels of horror filled him at the appalling sight below him, it was like some sort of bizarre horror hallucination from supper!

"What is he doing to her?!"

Stella giggled although she sounded as started as he felt.

"He's kissing her, and she seems to be participating most equally."

Edward let out a a sputter of outrage, arms flapping as he struggled to put into words his reaction.

"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"

He lunged for the wall where his Shard sword from their final quest to do with the prophecy hung.

"Edward Maurva Pendragon! If you step one foot outside of this room I will make you regret it!"

Stella's sharp reprimand froze the king in his steps and he turned slowly to face her, his face thunderous and stubborn as he pointed out the window.

"Are you telling me to leave them?! To just let that creep-...! I won't let him play with her again!"

Stella crossed her arms, somehow managing to appear intimidating despite her soft features and fluttery blue butterfly wings.

"From the moment those two got here I could tell that something had changed between them and their story only confirmed to me what I suspected even from the short minutes of observing them together, somehow and someway they were able to work through what happened before and through what they faced in the Demon Realm were able to form a bond. You don't get to interfere in that after everything she's gone through."

"But it's Gyendal!"

"And Mel is a big girl, she can more then handle herself. Now stop acting like a foolhardy knight in shining armour and go to bed!"

Edward muttered a few choice words before stalking to their bed and dropping down on it with a grumble.

"Fine. But just wait until tomorrow morning."

* * *

Mel exited her room with a yawn, pulling her red Mage robe on as birds chirped outside. Galahad and Te'ijal's door was open as she passed and she could tell that they had already gone down to breakfast.

A door behind her opened and she glanced behind her to see Gyendal exit his own room, wordlessly coming up alongside her as they headed down for food. They made their way downstairs quickly, shoulders brushing with every step until they reached just outside the dining hall. It was unspoken agreement that neither would mention anything to do with the latest development in their relationship, although Mel was wondering how long they could hide the shift in the dynamic between them.

She strode into the dining hall and was practically slapped in the face by the tension in the room as Edward first glowered on her before moving his eyes to Gyendal when his expression then changed to a near murderious glare. All of his children's eyes were darting in confusion and apprehension between their father and Gyendal who raised a brow in mild confusion at the hostile reaction. Stella sat there with an expression of resignation while Te'ijal and Galahad just looked plain amused.

"Who peed in your cereal?" Mel snorted at her friend, the kids giving nervous giggles at her quip.

Edward ignored her.

"I'll say this only once. If you're stupid enough to use her and abandon her like you did when you were Spook they'll never find all your pieces. You do not deserve her after everything you've done, be grateful she cares enough to give you a second chance and we all respect her enough to accept her decision."

There was a tense silence as the black haired males eyes narrowed angrily at Edward's threat. Then Gyendal smirked slightly, his face intense and his eyes glittering with an interesting combination of warning and dark amusement.

"Well luckily for you I'm playing for keeps."

Edward's mouth dropped at the finality in Gyendal's statement, Te'ijal blinking several times as she processed her brother's words. Gyendal ignored them and proceeded to his seat, resting his hand on the small of Mel's back to urge her out of the way of so he could get past her to his chair.

Mel stood silently in the isle way, gaping at Gyendal who was calmly ignoring all of them as he took a seat at the table. Where had that come from?! Yeah, she was well aware that this wasn't a game to either of them this time around, but since when did Gyendal voice things like that?! And to the entire room no less!

"That taken care of, so long as no one else has an earthshattering announcement or threats they feel the need to utter why don't we sit down and enjoy a meal together." Stella said with a look, everyone agreeing and taking a seat at the table while the meal served.

"Where the heck did that little show of "I am king, hear me roar" come from Edward?! I'd love to hear how that managed to make it's way to you before I had even gotten the chance to eat my flipping breakfast." Mel snapped, pointing at Edward accusingly with her knife.

"If you want a romantic gesture to stay private, don't do it on a balcony that's overlooked by one of the windows in the royal rooms and all the guest rooms have clear view of." Stella said with a soft laugh, her eyes twinkling with cheer as they met Mel's.

"Dually noted." She grumbled, stabbing her breakfast ham with her fork.

They chatted lightly as they finished their meal, once the food was gone they all rose so that Mel, Gyendal, Te'ijal and Galahad could leave. As they all filtered out of the dining hall Galahad caught her arm, Mel turning to the broadly smiling dark knight.

"I must thank you, because of your and Gyendal's choice to enter a relationship I won my bet and may now spend a week in Sedona with Te'ijal in tow."

A...bet?!

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

Galahad only laughed and Mel muttered some choice words under her breath as she went to retrieve her packed bags. Once they had all gathered their things and the kids had left for school they said their goodbyes.

"Please visit as much as you want, there will always be plenty of room here for you." Stella said as she and Mel hugged tightly.

Mel then saluted Edward after pulling back who only snorted and pulled her into yet another crushing hug.

"Seriously, I'll make it royal decree that you have to visit monthly if I have to." He said gruffly before releasing her.

She grinned and nodded to Melanie who simply raised a hand and summoned a tiny black flame, beaming at Mel. The farewells finished and their group headed out but as they walked away Mel felt no sense of sadness or tension. She knew she would be back, and she no longer had to fear dying on a quest as she did during the orb quests, nor was she at risk to lose everything through the demon realm.

She was finally free.

* * *

 _ **One Year Later:**_

Mel stood in front of her dining table, setting a box filled with fabric wrapping on the table and pulled the lid off to reveal several slates that Mel hadn't looked at for over a year. Grabbing several stands from the table she walked over to her mantle, setting the slate pictures from her quest up around one that was displayed already in the centre.

She then stepped back, admiring her handiwork with a smile. Her eyes drifted over the quest slates, taking in the scenes depicted on them before finally stopping on the centre slate. It glowed faintly from the doublespelled anti-break Magic on it, the piece bigger then the ones on all sides of it.

She reached out to straighten it with her left hand, the silver ring on her finger glinting and bringing Mel pause as the light sparkled and reflected off the band inlaid with blue and black stones.

"I don't think you can straighten that picture anymore then it already is." A humour filled voice commented from behind, causing Mel to snort and drop her hand.

"Well it is our wedding picture, I figured that if I'm going to stick pictures of your once-mortal enemies around it, the wedding picture might as well be the centrepiece and perfect."

Gyendal laughed and arms came around her waist from behind, wrapping snugly around her as Mel took the opportunity to use the dark Mage behind her as a leaning post. They stood silently while Mel studied the slate, a wedding gift from Stella and even a grumbling Edward who had only been partially reluctant to admit to having suggested the idea. It was of the moment they had been declared man and wife, capturing the small smile on Gyendal's face in a rare moment of letting some of his guard down along with her answering grin, and it was a picture she greatly treasured.

They had been married for over a month now, the occasion had been small and quiet with just Te'ijal, Galahad, Stella, Edward and their kids. They had been married by the Oracle of all people who had shown up several months after their return from the Demon Realm to tell them that the king had triumphed and the demon realm had been successfully reborn and all those lost brought back to live their life.

When an angry Gyendal had demanded answers for why they had gone through everything they had the Oracle had gravely told them about the red string of Destiny that had caused them to fall in together despite that not being fates plan and had pre-destined their relationship from the start. The news had been startling for both of them, but also explained a great deal about the progression in their lives from the moment they first med. Shortly after that revelation they had decided to get married, and now here they were.

"Gyendal, I never did ask you about this. Do you remember back in Sheian Lyr, the day before we had to start fleeing the demon, you had come up to my house and heard me say that I had loved Spook. Why did you react the way you did?"

Gyendal sighed and she could see his gaze move to the slate depicting their Death Orb quest out of the corner of her eye.

"I knew it had effected you by your actions, and I knew that you still had to battle the attraction that had built up between us when I was Spook, but hearing you say in such a raw tone that you loved Spook was a curveball for me. I had my own battles from that whole situation, and unlike for you I knew exactly who I was dealing with the entire time. And it certainly didn't help the attraction."

"...wait, you were attracted then?!"

Gyendal stilled, then muffled a snort.

"Mel, that is a stupid question and you know it. How long had there been tension between us? More then just enemy to enemy."

Mel didn't answer.

"Exactly. I am however pleased to say that despite that red string, at least I was as unaffected as I could get by it when we first met at the clockwork mansion."

At his mention of the mansion Mel glanced out their window, taking in the bits of the mansion roof that peeked up above the other houses. Her eyes unfocused as she thought about that night that she first met Gyendal and got pulled into the whole mess, the last night she ever spent in Harburg where she considered it her home.

"You know, I never expected to find myself setting down in Harburg once I had the chance to place roots and start a new life and family. I pictured myself either dying at the end of that mess or living in Thais. Mind you, this is strangely fitting. The chain of reactions started here that night that you hired me to steal the orb, and now we're settling down here for the beginning of our new life." Mel mused, settling her hands absently over his and smiling slightly when she heard the metal of her ring hit his.

"I never considered it that way." He commented. "Quite the irony how this all turned out."

Mel exhaled a soft laugh at his understatement before leaning her head back against his shoulder, eyes closing as Gyendal's head dipped down to rest against hers.

"One things for sure, there's one statement that it'll be extremely nice to finally say and mean."

"Hmm?" He murmured against her ear, sounding entirely too lazy to put the effort into acknowledging her with actual words.

Mel smiled contently as three words left her lips that for once she meant exactly what she was saying.

"Home sweet home."

* * *

 _Hello again,_

 _And so ends the final chapter. I truly hoped that you enjoyed this and that it wrapped everything up to your guys satisfaction:) I decided not to add angst or anything of the like, because after everything I put you readers through I figured it was only fair to end it on a fluffy note. Now, to end with this for the last time in the story..._

So what did you think? Reviews are welcome! Flames shall be laughed at, posted for others to laugh at, and ignored as I continue the story.


	25. Epilogue

Hello all,

And so with this finally ends the story. I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter and I hope this epilogue brings a smile to your faces as well:) I would really love to hear what you thought of the story so be sure to review and share^_^

Also, I'm excited to share that as much as this may be the end of Shadows of My Twisted Destiny, there is more fun to come. I now have a collection of oneshots that take place after this story timeline called The Moments Between, and I hope that you'll hop over to those and check them out:)

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Epilogue**

* * *

Nox stood fuming in the the temple, arms crossed as she glared mutinously at the mirror. Next to her Uma looked similarly as aggravated, watching their soon to be parents go about their daily lives.

"I just don't understand! I meddled and she never chose the dark path. You meddled and she never followed the light path. How is that even possible?!" Nox exclaimed, outraged. "I wanted to be the princess of Aia, is that too much to ask?!"

"You just wanted power! I wanted mom to live a happy and carefree life!" Uma argued. "She won't be carefree now that she's immortal, and she and dad both are scarred by what they lived through in the Demon Realm!"

The Oracle looked over at the girls with a long suffering sigh.

"Be honest you two, you're just upset that your mother never chose your paths."

As if to punctuate the oracles words there was a wicked laugh from behind the girl's as a new figure shimmered into existence behind the twins. It was a tall male, his black hair and dark cyan eyes that struck the perfect balance between forest green and midnight blue.

"Oh brother." Nox groaned, earning a cheeky grin from the tall newcomer.

"Let me guess, you're here to gloat." Uma added.

"Oh how well you know me. Tell me my lovely sisters, how does it feel to know that I didn't have to lift a finger for mom to choose the neutral path." He asked, his smooth tenor filled with amusement.

Nox blasted him with magic which the older boy quickly caught using his own before sending it flying harmlessly out of the open roof. Uma rolled her eyes and the Oracle watched with a smile as the three siblings bickered.

"Your parents are going to have a challenge on their hands handling you. Their eldest son, the spitting image of his father with a grudgingly soft heart like his mother. Twin daughter, one dark and one light. All of you trouble."

"Ooh don't forget about this "neutral" morons future father-in-law, I don't envy his winning over him to court his "Miracle daughter" with your name and looks!" Nox said slyly.

"Hey! What's wrong with my name?!"

The twins burst into laughter.

"I don't know Spook, whatever problem could you face with "father in law" looking just like dad?"

The young man snorted, rolling his eyes in aggravation.

"Alright that's enough you three. Spook, Uma, Nox, it's time you to return to your time. Yours days of meddling and travel are over, it is time for the future to progress as it is meant without "help" from any of you. Every step taken in the journey of your mother and father was carefully set for their future: Spook, you will be a representation of their legacy that shall last throughout history. Uma, Nox, you have your own destinies that you shall fulfill and when your mother sees you she will know the truth of those mysterious girls that guided her."

The three siblings exchanged genuine smiles.

"We cannot wait to become part of the family." Uma said softly.

"We'll bring more trouble then we'll ever be worth." Nox added.

"And we'll make our own name in Aia, they'll never know what hit them." Spook finished, slinging and arm around each sister's shoulder with a grin.

They faded from the temple with nothing but their ghostly laughter that lingered in the air to mark that the Darkthrop descendants had ever been in the room.

The Oracle shook her head fondly, she would be seeing a great deal of once they came of age. Letting out a sigh the old woman rose to her feet and approached an ornate mirror that hung in a secluded corner of her temple. She reached up to rest her fingers against the glass, silent as she watched her reflection shimmer before changing to reveal Shadow Aveyond. Her soft eyes met the black ones of her dark counterpart and the old woman on the other hand nodding respectfully to the Oracle.

"The Demon Realm is safe once more, as are your little pets. What is it you want from me?" The Shadow Oracle asked cooly.

"I wanted to thank you."

The Shadow Oracle blinked, appearing taken aback by the Oracles words.

"Thank me? What on earth for?"

The Oracle smiled.

"Thank you for protecting them from the Shadows of her Twisted Destiny."

 **THE END**


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